Asparagopsis taxiformis (Delile) Trevisan de Saint-Léon, 1845
Red Sea plume
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Family:  Bonnemaisoniaceae ()
Max. size: 
Environment:  sessile; brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 22 m
Distribution:  Indo-Pacific, Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Diagnosis:  Thalli erect, greenish to red in colour, feathery or plumose, arising from a creeping stolon and attached by rhizoids to solid substrates. Central axis terete, bearing plumose branches at its upper 1/2 to 2/3 portion; the plumose branches are composed of numerous fine and delicate determinate branchlets which are densely disposed around an axis. Cystocarps subspherical or ovate, bright red in colour and borne at the apices of the short branchlets. Thalli up to 13 cm in height (Ref. 80758).
Biology:  Used by humans as food and medicine (antibiotic and antimicrobial); used for animals as feeds; source of protein (Ref. 80758).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. 123251)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:   
 

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