Seaweed Flora of the European North Atlantic and Mediterranean 6.3 Seaweeds Biodiversity and Potential 101
Part A | 6.3
by desiccation, with rough touch; fixed to the substrate
by cylindrical, crawling axes from which derive others, also with circular section, irregularly branched;
ramifications with acute apices and behaving small
triangular-shaped spines [6.526].
Habitat. It lives on rocks and clams in well-lighted
areas with little inclination at mid-littoral zones in
semiexposed shores.
Distribution. NE and E Atlantic (Ireland and Britain
to Guinea); Mediterranean; NW Atlantic (Canada to
Mexico); SW Atlantic (Brazil); SE Atlantic (Angola to
South Africa); Indian and Pacific Oceans; Australia.
Uses and Compounds. Produces a kappa/iota-hybrid
carrageenan [6.527]. Extracts have antibacterial activity [6.358].
Chondracanthus acicularis (Roth)
Fredericq
Description. Cartilaginous, cylindrical, or compressed, purple-red or blackish fronds, sometimes with
greenish or whitish spots, to 100 mm long, irregularly bipinnately branched, branches curved, sharply
pointed [6.1].
Habitat. On rocks, lower intertidal, generally uncommon but may be locally common on sheltered, silty
shores in the lower intertidal.
Distribution. NE and E Atlantic (Ireland and Britain
to Cameroon); Mediterranean; NW and SW Atlantic;
Caribbean; Indian Ocean; Pacific (Hawaii); E Australia.
Uses and Compounds. Source of carrageenan
[6.514–516]. Extracts have antiviral [6.103],
antibacterial [6.269, 357], antioxidant [6.429], antifungic [6.204], and anticoagulant [6.512] activity.
Chondracanthus teedei var. lusitanicus
(Rodrigues) Bárbara & Cremades
Description. The fronds of this alga are cartilaginousmembranous, with purple-violet color that darkens
by desiccation, becoming greenish yellow with decay
(Fig. 6.28). The main axes of the fronds, as their ramifications are wide, reaching 1 cm in the older portions.
This species is confused sometimes with Calliblepharis
jubata [6.1].
Habitat. On rocks in mid-littoral zone.
Distribution. NE Atlantic (Spain and Portugal).
Uses and Compounds. Produces carrageenan
[6.514–516, 528]. Extracts have cytotoxic activity
[6.529].
Chondrus crispus Stackhouse
Description. Cartilaginous, dark purplish red, red,
yellowish or greenish fronds of 150 mm high, gametophyte plants are often iridescent under water when in
good condition; stipe compressed, narrow, expanding
gradually to a flat, repeatedly dichotomously branched
frond, in tufts from a discoid holdfast. Axils rounded,
apices blunt or subacute, frond thicker in center than
margins; breadth of segments varies frequently; branching, color, and thickness also vary frequently.
Highly variable (polymorphous) thalli may reach
15 cm long, cartilaginous consistency and reddish-pink
or -brown color and iridescent in water. These algae are fixed by a disk whose first unbranched stipe
gradually expands into a fan-like blade, repeatedly dichotomously divided, with ends rounded or truncated.
Small dilations (2–3 mm in diameter), which are the reproductive structures may appear on the surface of the
blades [6.1].
Common Names. Irish moss, Carrageen moss, Jelly
moss.
Habitat. On rocks, lower intertidal and shallow sublittoral, in pools in the mid-littoral in some locations;
widely distributed in the northwestern and northeastern
Atlantic, often abundant.
Distribution. C. crispus has a wide distribution. It includes the northwest Atlantic from Labrador and the
Maritime Provinces in Canada southward to New Jersey and Delaware in the United States. It can be found to
a limited extent in the western Baltic Sea, from northern Russia and Norway to southern Spain, spanning the
northeast Atlantic, the North Sea, and the English Channel. It can be found in the Mediterranean, Portugal, the
Azores, the Faroes, and West Africa, as well as in the
Bering Sea from Russia to Alaska.
Uses and Compounds. C. crispus is harvested as
a common source of the polysaccharide carrageenan,
which is extracted from cell walls and forms a gel that
is used commercially as a thickener [6.4, 514–516].
The gelling and thickening properties of carrageenan are used widely in the cosmetics, food, and
Part A | 6.3
by desiccation, with rough touch; fixed to the substrate
by cylindrical, crawling axes from which derive others, also with circular section, irregularly branched;
ramifications with acute apices and behaving small
triangular-shaped spines [6.526].
Habitat. It lives on rocks and clams in well-lighted
areas with little inclination at mid-littoral zones in
semiexposed shores.
Distribution. NE and E Atlantic (Ireland and Britain
to Guinea); Mediterranean; NW Atlantic (Canada to
Mexico); SW Atlantic (Brazil); SE Atlantic (Angola to
South Africa); Indian and Pacific Oceans; Australia.
Uses and Compounds. Produces a kappa/iota-hybrid
carrageenan [6.527]. Extracts have antibacterial activity [6.358].
Chondracanthus acicularis (Roth)
Fredericq
Description. Cartilaginous, cylindrical, or compressed, purple-red or blackish fronds, sometimes with
greenish or whitish spots, to 100 mm long, irregularly bipinnately branched, branches curved, sharply
pointed [6.1].
Habitat. On rocks, lower intertidal, generally uncommon but may be locally common on sheltered, silty
shores in the lower intertidal.
Distribution. NE and E Atlantic (Ireland and Britain
to Cameroon); Mediterranean; NW and SW Atlantic;
Caribbean; Indian Ocean; Pacific (Hawaii); E Australia.
Uses and Compounds. Source of carrageenan
[6.514–516]. Extracts have antiviral [6.103],
antibacterial [6.269, 357], antioxidant [6.429], antifungic [6.204], and anticoagulant [6.512] activity.
Chondracanthus teedei var. lusitanicus
(Rodrigues) Bárbara & Cremades
Description. The fronds of this alga are cartilaginousmembranous, with purple-violet color that darkens
by desiccation, becoming greenish yellow with decay
(Fig. 6.28). The main axes of the fronds, as their ramifications are wide, reaching 1 cm in the older portions.
This species is confused sometimes with Calliblepharis
jubata [6.1].
Habitat. On rocks in mid-littoral zone.
Distribution. NE Atlantic (Spain and Portugal).
Uses and Compounds. Produces carrageenan
[6.514–516, 528]. Extracts have cytotoxic activity
[6.529].
Chondrus crispus Stackhouse
Description. Cartilaginous, dark purplish red, red,
yellowish or greenish fronds of 150 mm high, gametophyte plants are often iridescent under water when in
good condition; stipe compressed, narrow, expanding
gradually to a flat, repeatedly dichotomously branched
frond, in tufts from a discoid holdfast. Axils rounded,
apices blunt or subacute, frond thicker in center than
margins; breadth of segments varies frequently; branching, color, and thickness also vary frequently.
Highly variable (polymorphous) thalli may reach
15 cm long, cartilaginous consistency and reddish-pink
or -brown color and iridescent in water. These algae are fixed by a disk whose first unbranched stipe
gradually expands into a fan-like blade, repeatedly dichotomously divided, with ends rounded or truncated.
Small dilations (2–3 mm in diameter), which are the reproductive structures may appear on the surface of the
blades [6.1].
Common Names. Irish moss, Carrageen moss, Jelly
moss.
Habitat. On rocks, lower intertidal and shallow sublittoral, in pools in the mid-littoral in some locations;
widely distributed in the northwestern and northeastern
Atlantic, often abundant.
Distribution. C. crispus has a wide distribution. It includes the northwest Atlantic from Labrador and the
Maritime Provinces in Canada southward to New Jersey and Delaware in the United States. It can be found to
a limited extent in the western Baltic Sea, from northern Russia and Norway to southern Spain, spanning the
northeast Atlantic, the North Sea, and the English Channel. It can be found in the Mediterranean, Portugal, the
Azores, the Faroes, and West Africa, as well as in the
Bering Sea from Russia to Alaska.
Uses and Compounds. C. crispus is harvested as
a common source of the polysaccharide carrageenan,
which is extracted from cell walls and forms a gel that
is used commercially as a thickener [6.4, 514–516].
The gelling and thickening properties of carrageenan are used widely in the cosmetics, food, and