Spiral Wrack - Fucus spiralis

This seaweed had bumpy air bladders in pairs. The fronds grow to 30 cm long.

Habitat: Spotted in large quantities in the intertidal zone.

comments (10)

Patomarazul

Lion

I have also seen algae very much alike these a few weekends ago in the area of Calais, France; Do you think they could be same species? I mean are they to be found also in the European Atlantic shoreline? (I will check later from home! ;-) Posted 6 years ago, modified 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  The distribution is all across the northern Atlantic, so France would definitely be included. It’s so cool to think we found the same species, weeks apart, on opposite sides on the Atlantic :) Posted 6 years ago
2. 1. Patomarazul
    
    Lion
    
    Yes, what a nice coincidence! I will keep the sp. name for a future posting ;-) Posted 6 years ago

Flown Kimmerling

Lion

Gorgeous! Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks :) Posted 6 years ago

gary fast

Lion

Hello Christine, what a great shot. I am wondering if the photo is of F. gardneri or F. distichus? Wikipedia says of F. vesiculosus “It has almost spherical air bladders which are usually paired, one on either side of the mid-rib, but may be absent in young plants.“. Your photo shows “the terminal branches swell to form forked air bladders that have a bumpy, warty texture.”. https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/rockweed-bull-fucus-distichus.html A characteristic of F. gardneri or distichus. Just wondering. Gary Posted 6 years ago
1. gary fast
  
  Lion
  
  Sorry, F. gardneri is the west coast species. Seems that the east coast and European is F. spiralis. Posted 6 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    I’m so glad you commented on this, Gary! I was very iffy about the ID because it looked different, as you said, from F. vesiculosus. I took marine biology in Maine 20 years ago and could not now remember what else this could be! So, thank you! Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. gary fast
      
      Lion
      
      Hey, you are more than welcome. Having a few, well, nearly too many, marine algae in our “front yard” to identify I can sympathize. After finding an interesting subject to photograph the greatest difficulty usually comes not in the making of the image but I find in making an identification of the subject. Glad it doesn’t decrease the fun factor! Posted 6 years ago
    2. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        You're lucky :). I love exploring the coast when I have the chance! Posted 6 years ago

The Spiral wrack

"Fucus spiralis" is a species of seaweed, a brown alga, living on the littoral shore of the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America. It has the common names of spiral wrack and flat wrack.

Info 10 0

Similar species: Fucales

Species identified by Christine Young