Summary ¹⁰

Ahnfeltia plicata, the landlady's wig, is a species of red alga in the family Ahnfeltiaceae. It grows in northern parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

Description ¹¹

 A perennial red seaweed which forms dense, tangled tufts. The fronds are very fine, tough and wiry with irregular or dichotomous branching and up to 21 cm in length. The holdfast is disc-like or encrusting, 0.5 to 2 cm in diameter. The fronds are dark brown when moist and appear almost black when dry. The uppermost branches are often green.

Distribution ¹²

Generally common around the British Isles. Europe: Azores, Portugal, Atlantic coasts of Spain and France, Netherlands, Baltic Sea, Norway, Faroes, Spitzbergen and Iceland. Greenland. Atlantic coast of North America: Canada, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. Further afield: Arctic Sea circumpolar to Baffin Bay, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Habitat ¹³

Epilithic in rock pools of the lower littoral and in the sublittoral to a depth of 12 m.

Habitat ¹⁴

 Ahnfeltia plicata forms turfs on shallow sublittoral bedrock and in rockpools on the lower shore, often partly buried by sand. It may form part of the turf on soft or friable rocks which are too unstable for large fucoids. The tetrasporophyte phase is common on pebbles, whereas the mature gametophytes only occur on more stable substrata.

Habitat ¹⁵

Depth range based on 79 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 4 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 25.6
  Temperature range (°C): 11.471 - 11.845
  Nitrate (umol/L): 4.850 - 5.063
  Salinity (PPS): 35.203 - 35.211
  Oxygen (ml/l): 6.138 - 6.200
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.336 - 0.421
  Silicate (umol/l): 2.315 - 2.448

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0 - 25.6

Temperature range (°C): 11.471 - 11.845

Nitrate (umol/L): 4.850 - 5.063

Salinity (PPS): 35.203 - 35.211

Oxygen (ml/l): 6.138 - 6.200

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.336 - 0.421

Silicate (umol/l): 2.315 - 2.448
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this note. Your feedback is most welcome.

Type information ¹⁶

Type locality: England

Sources and Credits

1. (c) National Museums Northern Ireland and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/algae/ahnpli.jpg
2. (c) sea-kangaroo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by sea-kangaroo
3. (c) Biopix, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/Ahnfeltia-plicata-00002.JPG
4. (c) Biopix, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/Ahnfeltia-plicata-00001.JPG
5. (c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/algae/F10592.jpg
6. (c) Gary W. Saunders, University of New Brunswick, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.boldsystems.org/archive/image.php?id=bold.org/234372
7. (c) Gary W. Saunders, University of New Brunswick, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.boldsystems.org/archive/image.php?id=bold.org/276832
8. (c) Gary W. Saunders, University of New Brunswick, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.boldsystems.org/archive/image.php?id=bold.org/276889
9. (c) Gary W. Saunders, University of New Brunswick, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.boldsystems.org/archive/image.php?id=bold.org/277131
10. Adapted by Joseph deVeer from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahnfeltia_plicata
11. (c)  The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10657179
12. (c) National Museums Northern Ireland and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/5972467
13. (c) National Museums Northern Ireland and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/5972466
14. (c)  The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10657180
15. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/17362540
16. (c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28547301

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• Flora Digital de Portugal
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• NBN Atlas
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos

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