Sargassum muticum
Summary 4
Sargassum muticum, commonly known as Japanese wireweed, is a large brown seaweed of the genus Sargassum. It is an invasive seaweed with high growth rate (until 10 cm per day during spring). It has an efficient dispersion thanks to its floats.
Taxon biology 5
Japanese sargassum grows quickly and massively, causing lots of problems in harbours (jammed screws), on beaches (stink inconvenience when it dies) and for those that use seawater (cool-water admission, saltwater aquariums). Just like the name indicates, Japanese sargassum comes from Japan. Scientists think that it arrived in the North Sea via Japanese oysters and attached to ships. At any rate, it has been present in the North Sea region since 1973. Because this species contains many small gas bladders, it is not uncommon for plants to lift up their stony base and drift to other places.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Biopix, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/JCS%20Sargassum%20muticum%2032287.jpg
- (c) 2006 California Academy of Sciences, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=200645&one=T
- (c) Susan J. Hewitt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Susan J. Hewitt
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargassum_muticum
- (c) Copyright Ecomare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/26430058
