Acetabularia major G. Martens
Family
Polyphysaceae
Synonyms
Acetabularia crenulata J.V. Lamour. var. major Sond., Acetabularia denudata Zanardini, Acetabularia gigas Solms.
Vernacular Names
| English |
Mermaid’s wine glass. |
| Indonesia | Gembur batu, keji beling, pecah beling (Javanese, Sundanese). |
| Philippines | Payong-payong. |
Geographical Distributions
Acetabularia major is found in the Indian Ocean of Sri Lanka and in the Pacific Ocean from Melanesia, Taiwan to the islands in the Torres Strait. In Southeast Asia, it is known from Thailand (Gulf), Peninsular Malaysia, Indonesia (West Java, Timor, Irian Jaya) and the Philippines.
Description
Acetabularia major is an erect, moderately calcified thallus with slender stalk. It is about 2-20 cm tall and with a cap 10-20 mm in diametre at the end. The cap consists of 63-83 long slender rays with entire end. Inside the cap is the built-in superior corona which has segments 230-250 micrometre long, hairy, bearing scars and uniform and serially arranged. The inferior corona is below the cap, which has segments 265-280 micrometre long with rounded, truncate or emarginate margin.
Its life cycle is diplontic. The gametangial cysts are inside the oval cap rays, with a size of 119-129 µm x 89-109µm, or if spherical measuring 98-115 µm in diametre. Each cap ray consists of about 100 cysts.
Ecology / Cultivation
Acetabularia major is usually solitary and grows on hard objects like dead coral on moderately wave-washed habitats near shore, on hard substrates in sheltered sand-flats with seagrasses and between large seagrasses. The very large specimens of var. gigas have never been found in their natural habitat, but only washed ashore.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.15(1): Cryptogams: Algae.
