Phyllophora sicula

Phyllophora sicula, the hand leaf bearer, is a small red marine alga.^[1]

Phyllophora sicula
A specimen of Phyllophora sicula
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Clade:	Archaeplastida
Division:	Rhodophyta
Class:	Florideophyceae
Order:	Gigartinales
Family:	Phyllophoraceae
Genus:	Phyllophora
Species:	P. sicula
Binomial name
Phyllophora sicula (Kützing) Guiry & L.M.Irvine

Description

This small red alga grows to a length of 20 mm (0.8 in), erect from a disc shaped holdfast. It has a short, erect, terete stipe which expands as a flattened blade branching once or twice. The blades have a cartilaginous texture with a medulla of large cells within a cortex of one or two layers of small cells.^[2][3]

Reproduction

Gametangial plants are unknown. Tetrasporangial patches occur in the center of the blade.^[3]

Habitat

It is found in rock pools of the lower littoral and in the sublittoral to depths of 12 m (39 ft).^[3]

Distribution

It is generally recorded from the southwest of Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.^[3] The type locality is in Italy.^[1]