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| green seaweeds text index | photo index |
| Seaweeds > Division Chlorophyta |
| Pimply
green seaweed Dictyosphaeria sp.* Family Siphonocladaceae updated Oct 2016 Where seen? This seaweeed with a pimply or bubbly texture is sometimes seen on some of our Southern shores, growing on coral rubble. It forms small scattered patches among other encrusting organisms. Features: Small clusters (5-7cm) of hollow irregular globular lumps (1-2cm). Made up of a layer of tiny spheres joined together. This is the seaweed's mature form, resulting from an unusual form of division, when it produces a mass of tiny spheres. Immature forms may be firm, irregularly shaped and generally globular. Bright green to bluish green. According to Marine Algae of Hawai`i the bubble-like structure of this seaweed allows it to efficiently trap nutrient-laden sediments in the chambers. The seaweed then slowly taps on this nutrient store. According to AlgaeBase, there are 11 current Dictyosphaeria species. Human uses: Some species are used as human food, fed to animals and as fish bait. They are reported to have anti-microbial properties. Although it is well behaved in Singapore, when this seaweed grows outside its natural range as an invasive alien, it can grow rapidly in carpets, replacing corals and seriously affecting reefs. |
 Pulau Hantu, Apr 09  Submerged seaweed. |
 Pulau Biola, Dec 09 |
 Pulau Biola, Dec 09 |
 Terumbu Berkas, Jan 10 |
 Pulau Senang, Jun 10 |
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*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination of internal parts.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Pimply green seaweed on Singapore shores |
| Photos of Pimply green seaweed for free download from wildsingapore flickr |
| Distribution in Singapore on this wildsingapore flickr map |
| Dictyosphaeria
species recorded for Singapore Pham, M. N., H. T. W. Tan, S. Mitrovic & H. H. T. Yeo, 2011. A Checklist of the Algae of Singapore. +Lee Ai Chin, Iris U. Baula, Lilibeth N. Miranda and Sin Tsai Min ; editors: Sin Tsai Min and Wang Luan Keng, A photographic guide to the marine algae of Singapore, 2015.
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