Bleached dead calcareous seaweed

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P1050483aBlog1 A beach stone covered with the white articulated chalky 'skeletons' of dead Coral Weed (Corallina officinalis Linnaeus) which is normally pink when alive (1)

In life, the calcareous seaweed called Coral Weed (Corallina officinalis Linnaeus) is pink. You can see some pictures of this living pink alga in the previous post. It belongs to the group of red seaweeds or Rhodophyceae. However, when dead, the red pigments of Coral Weed disappear and its strange, white, chalky, articulated ‘skeleton’ remains. Similarly, the smooth, rock-coating calcareous alga known as Pink Paint (Lithamnion sp.) bleaches out from purplish pink when dead and exposed to the elements and turns white.

P1050482aBlog2 Close-up view of the segmented white chalky branches of bleached white dead Coral Weed (Corallina officinalis Linnaeus)(2)

P1050255aBlog3 Close-up view of the partitioned white chalky branches of bleached dead Coral Weed (Corallina officinalis Linnaeus) and the bleached smooth rock-coating of dead Pink Paint (Lithamnia) (3) 

COPYRIGHT JESSICA WINDER 2011

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2 Replies to “Bleached dead calcareous seaweed”

  1. OMG Thank you!! We keep finding tiny pieces of this treasure on the beach! Now that I know what it is, maybe we can discover more for teeny terrariums!
    XOXO

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