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Serrated
ribbon seagrass
Cymodocea serrulata
Family Cymodoceaceae
updated
Sep 2017
if you
learn only 3 things about them ...
This seagrass is rarely seen on our shores.
It doesn't flower frequently, and the flowers are small.
It
is eaten by dugongs. |
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Where
seen?
These seagrasses are common on Pulau Semakau, growing among the more
dominant Tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides).
They are also commonly seen on Cyrene Reef.
Serrated ribbon seagrass is considered common and widespread throughout
tropical Indo-West Pacific usually dominant in muddy reef tops. In
reefs, it grow mixed with other seagrasses commonly found in such
ecosystems. It quickly grows over Halophila beds as part of
natural succession.
Features:
Long ribbon-like leaves with blunt, rounded tips that have
serrations (these are sometimes very tiny). The leaf scars around
the upright stem are not continuous. It has thick rhizomes (underground
stems). The leaf sheaths around the leaf are flattened. Sometimes
seen with reddish bands.
Sometimes confused with other
ribbon-like seagrasses. Here's more on how
to tell apart ribbon-like seagrasses.
Flowers and fruits: This seagrass
has separate male and female plants. Flowering is rarely observed.
The female flower appears in pairs at the base of the leaves. They
have a prong-like stigma. The male flowers form within the leaf sheath.
Seeds (10mm) are dark coloured with a hard-coated, beaked nut with
three blunt ridges along the length. The seeds are attached to the
rhizome.
Role in the habitat: Dugongs eat
this seagrass where smaller Halophila and Halodule are
not available.
Status and threats: It is listed
as 'Endangered' on the Red List of threatened plants of Singapore.
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Pulau Sekudu, Oct 11
Pulau Semakau, May 09
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Cyrene Reef, Aug 11
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Flattened leaf sheath.
Cyrene Reef, Mar 07
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Sometimes
seen with reddish bands.
Cyrene, Jun 12
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Cyrene Reef, Dec 08
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Serrated
ribbon seagrass on Singapore shores |
Seringat Kias, Sep 17
Photo shared by Jonathan Tan. |
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Links
- McKenzie,
L.J., Yaakub, S.M., and Yoshida, R.L. (2007). Seagrass-Watch:
Guidelines for TeamSeagrass Singapore Participants (PDF).
Proceedings of a training workshop, National Parks Board, Biodiversity
Centre, Singapore, 24th-25th March 2007 (DPI&F, Cairns). 32pp.
- Identifying
seagrasses on the Seagrass-Watch website.
References
- Waycott,
Michelle (et. al). 2004. A Guide to Tropical Seagrasses of
the Indo-West Pacific. 2004. James Cook University. 72 pp.
- Calumpong,
H. P. & Menez, E. G., 1997.Field
Guide to the Common Mangroves, Seagrasses and Algae of the Philippines.
Bookmark, Inc., the Philippines. 197 pp.
- Hsuan Keng,
S.C. Chin and H. T. W. Tan.1998, The
Concise Flora of Singapore II: Monoctyledons
Singapore University Press. 215 pp.
- Davison,
G.W. H. and P. K. L. Ng and Ho Hua Chew, 2008. The Singapore
Red Data Book: Threatened plants and animals of Singapore.
Nature Society (Singapore). 285 pp.
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You CAN make a difference for Singapore's
seagrasses!
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