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seagrass lagoon index
  Online Guide to Chek Jawa
seagrass lagoon
 
'Bee hoon' seaweed
Chaetomorpha crassa
Family Cladophoraceae
click for enlarged image
 
This seaweed is seasonally abundant. It can grow is tangles in the seagrass lagoon among the seagrasses, and wash up on the shore in huge bundles. This stringy seaweed looks very much like vermicilli or 'bee hoon'. It grows in long, unbranched strands entangled among seagrass. Each strand is made up of a single row of bamboo-like cells.

Role in the habitat: The long strands often form large bundles where tiny creatures hide and feed on trapped detritus.

Human uses: This seaweed is reported to be edible. It is also fed to animals and fish such as milk fish, and used as fish bait.
 
click for enlarged image
Large bundles of seaweed on the shore
quick facts
Long strings, common in the seagrass lagoon
 
See also ...
Seaweeds in general

Other references
  • Trono, G. C. Jr., 1997. Field Guide and Atlas of the Seaweed Resources of the Philippines. Bookmark, Inc., the Philippines. 306 pp.
  • Calumpong, H. P. & Menez, E. G., 1997. Field Guide to the Common Mangroves, Seagrasses and Algae of the Philippines. Bookmark, Inc., the Philippines. 197 pp.
  • Lim, S., P. Ng, L. Tan, & W. Y. Chin, 1994. Rhythm of the Sea: The Life and Times of Labrador Beach. Division of Biology, School of Science, Nanyang Technological University & Department of Zoology, the National University of Singapore. 160 pp.
 

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