Calliarthron (original) (raw)

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Genus of red algae in the family Corallinaceae

Calliarthron
Calliarthron tuberculosum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Clade: Archaeplastida
Division: Rhodophyta
Class: Florideophyceae
Order: Corallinales
Family: Corallinaceae
Subfamily: Corallinoideae
Genus: _Calliarthron_Manza, 1937

Calliarthron is a genus containing two species of thalloid intertidal[1] alga. Specimens can reach around 30 cm in size. The thalli take a crustose form. The organisms lack secondary pit connections. Calliarthron reproduces by means of conceptacles; it produces tetraspores, dispores and carpospores. The genus has lignin and contains secondary cell walls, traits which are normally associated with the vascular plants.[1] It is similar to the genus Bossiella.[2]

Calliarthron is calcified, but also has uncalcified joints that allow it to flex in response to the waves to which it is subjected.[1] These joints start out calcified, and decalcify as they grow older.[1] After decalcifying they grow much longer, then fatten themselves up in the same way as xylem formation, resulting in secondary walls.[1]

The 2 species currently recognised are:[3]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Martone, Pt; Estevez, Jm; Lu, F; Ruel, K; Denny, Mw; Somerville, C; Ralph, J (Jan 2009). "Discovery of Lignin in Seaweed Reveals Convergent Evolution of Cell-Wall Architecture". Current Biology. 19 (2): 169–75. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.12.031. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 19167225.
  2. ^ "Calliarthron spp. (erect, geniculate corallines)". Kelp Forest Ecology.
  3. ^ Paul W. Gabrielson, Kathy Ann Miller, and Patrick T. Martone (2011) Morphometric and molecular analyses confirm two distinct species of Calliarthron (Corallinales, Rhodophyta), a genus endemic to the northeast Pacific. Phycologia: May 2011, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 298-316. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2216/10-42.1