Acrosiphonia filaments have hooks that cause the branches to become tangled. This gives the algae its matted appearance. This tangeled look is the cause for it to be described as rope-like. It is also said to resemble rastafarian hair.

Distinguishing between Acrosiphonia coalita and Acrosiphonia arcta is very difficult in the field. For Acrosiphonia coalita, It is generally dark green in color.

Thallus length is up to 35 cm for Acrosiphonia coalita. Hooked branches can be either simple or compound and filament diameter is from 120-230 µm. Fertile cells are generally not found in series, unlike Acrosiphonia arcta. New branching is lateral (1) (center image).

Website created by:

Travis Seaborn

ZooBot Spring Quarter 2009

Friday Harbor Laboratories

University of Washington

seabot@u.washington.edu

All images created by the author, except where indicated, and cannot be used without permission from the author.