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green seaweeds text index | photo
index
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| Seaweeds > Division Chlorophyta > Family Halimedaceae > Genus Halimeda |
| Small
coin green seaweed Halimeda sp.* Family Halimedaceae updated Aug 10 Where seen? This is seaweed made up of small, hard segments. It is commonly seen on many of our shores, usually growing on coral rubble or among living corals. Features: Looks like a series of coins joined together, the entire chain growing to 3-5cm long. Each coin-like segment is hard as it is impregnated with calcium carbonate. Small coin green seaweeds have small segments about 1cm or less. Segments are thick, heavily calcified and stiff, and often crinkled. In some, clusters of these joined-up segments are held up on a stalk that is buried. Colours range from light to bright green and olive green. Sometimes rather large 'thickets' may form, covering an area of 40-50cm. In Halimeda opuntia, the joined-up segments are not held up on stalks. The segments tend to develop holdfasts where they contact with a hard surface so that the growth habit tends to be more horizontal than vertical. Big coin green seaweeds have larger 'coins' that tend to be thinner and unwrinkled. Human uses: Some species of Halimeda are used as fertilizers to recondition acidic soils. They are also used as animal feed and reportedly have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. |
 St. John's Island, May 06  |
Small coin green seaweeds on Singapore shores
 Kusu Island, May 07 |
 Kusu Island, May 07 |
 Kusu Island, May 07 |
 Sentosa, Jul 04  |
 Sentosa, Jul 05  |
 Pulau Semakau, Sep 05  |
more photos of small coin green seaweeds on Singapore shores
northern shores
southern shores part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination of internal parts.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
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