Egregia menziesii

Egregia menziesii
Scientific classification
(unranked): SAR
Superphylum: Heterokonta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Laminariales
Family: Alariaceae
Genus: Egregia
Species: E. menziesii
Binomial name
Egregia menziesii
(Turner) Areschoug, 1876

Egregia menziesii is a species of kelp known commonly as feather boa kelp. It is native to the coastline of western North America from Alaska to Baja California, where it is a common kelp of the intertidal zone. It is dark brown in color, shiny and bumpy in texture, and may reach over five meters long. It grows a branching stipe from a thick holdfast. It bears long, flat, straplike fronds lined with small blades each a few centimeters long. There are pneumatocysts at intervals along the fronds which provide buoyancy. The alga varies in morphology; the rachis, or central strip, of the frond may be smooth or corrugated, and the blades along the edge of the rachis may be a variety of shapes.

Feather boa kelp on surfgrass Phyllospadix scouleri. Also visible are Laminaria setchellii kelp (upright in the tidepool) and loose floats from Giant kelp. Negative low tide, North Moonstone beach near Cambria, California.

See also

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.