Volume 68
Shipboard Observation of Pelagic Sargassum spp. Reveals Proliferation of a Rare Form and Differences in Associated Mobile Fauna Community Structure
Authors
Schell, J.M., A.N.S. Suida, and D.S. Goodwin Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2015
Pages: 421 - 423
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty eigth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Panama City
Country: Panama
Abstract
Sargassum is golden brown algae with characteristic air-filled bladders and blades arising from a central stipe with various patterns of branching. Hundreds of benthic species with holdfasts are recognized and distributed worldwide. However, two pelagic species, Sargassum natans and S. fluitans, are found only in the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico; both drift at the sea surface and maintain their presence through vegetative growth. Parr (1939) described six distinct morphological forms between the two recognized pelagic species.