Coralline algae

Coralline algae
Temporal range: Ordovician–recent[1][2][3]
Spongites yendoi together with the gardening limpet Scutellastra cochlear
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Clade: Archaeplastida
Division: Rhodophyta
Class: Florideophyceae
Subclass: Corallinophycidae
Order: Corallinales
Silva & Johansen, 1986[4]
Families and subfamilies

Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of red, but some species can be purple, yellow, blue, white, or gray-green. Coralline algae play an important role in the ecology of coral reefs. Sea urchins, parrot fish, and limpets and chitons (both mollusks) feed on coralline algae. In the temperate Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae are the main builders of a typical algal reef, the Coralligène ("coralligenous").[5] Many are typically encrusting and rock-like, found in marine waters all over the world. Only one species lives in freshwater.[6] Unattached specimens (maerl, rhodoliths) may form relatively smooth compact balls to warty or fruticose thalli.

A close look at almost any intertidal rocky shore or coral reef will reveal an abundance of pink to pinkish-grey patches, distributed throughout the rock surfaces. These patches of pink "paint" are actually living crustose coralline red algae. The red algae belong to the division Rhodophyta, within which the coralline algae form the order Corallinales. There are over 1600 described species of nongeniculate coralline algae.[7]

The corallines are presently grouped into two families on the basis of their reproductive structures.[8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aguirre2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Riding1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brooke1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Silva, P.; Johansen, H. W. (1986). "A reappraisal of the order Corallinales (Rhodophyceae)". European Journal of Phycology. 21 (3): 245–254. doi:10.1080/00071618600650281.
  5. ^ Ballesteros E., 2006 Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages: A synthesis of present knowledge. Oceanography and Marine Biology - an Annual Review 44: 123–130
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference fresh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Woelkerling, Wm.J. (1988). The coralline red algae: An analysis of the genera and subfamilies of non-geniculate Corallinaceae. Natural History. London, UK: British Museum. ISBN 978-0-19-854249-0.
  8. ^ Taylor, Thomas N; Taylor, Edith L; Krings, Michael (2009). Paleobotany: the biology and evolution of fossil plants. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-373972-8.