Dead man's fingers (Seaweeds of San Mateo County)

Dead man's fingers

Codium fragile

Summary ⁷

Codium fragile, known commonly as green sea fingers, dead man's fingers, felty fingers,forked felt-alga, sponge seaweed,green sponge,green fleece, and oyster thief, is an invasive species of seaweed in the family Codiaceae.

Taxon biology ⁸

Green sea fingers, dead man's fingers, green fleece, oyster thief, Sputnik weed, velvet horn: all names for the same seaweed. It is a dark fairly large green seaweed, which grows on hard surfaces at the deep end of the tidal zone. The name 'green sea fingers' gives a good description of this seaweed. It is found in the delta region and in the western Wadden Sea. Green sea fingers is considered an invasive alien species. It originated in the Pacific Ocean and probably arrived in Europe attached to the rump of a ship or shellfish. Although it is harvested in the Far East, it doesn't have many enemies in European waters and profits above native species.