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brown
seaweeds text index
| photo index
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| Seaweeds > Division Phaeophyta |
| Pyramid
seaweed Turbinaria sp.* Family Sargassaceae updated Jan 13 Where seen? This odd triangular seaweed is sometimes seen on our undisturbed Southern shores, growing on large boulders facing strong waves and currents, usually near the low water mark. Features: Blades pyramidal or conical, solid, stiff; arranged around a vertical 'stem'. On rocks facing strong waves, these grow as short upright columns (6-8cm). In sheltered lagoons, those with very long 'stems' (20-30cm) are seen. Pyramid seaweed may have tiny bumps near the stem. These are probably reproductive structures (receptacles). According to AlgaeBase: there are 30 current Turbinaria species. Human uses: Pyramid seaweed is eaten by people (apparently best eaten boiled then pickled), used as fertiliser, pesticide, insecticide and insect repellent as well as medicine to treat fever in children (mixed with other seagrasses, boiled and the steam inhaled). It is often a minor component of sargassum seaweed (Sargassum sp.) harvests for commercial uses. In Hawai'i, it is considered an introduced and thus alien, invasive weed that affects the native marine life there. |
 Sisters Island, Jan 06  Pyramid-shaped blades. |
 Short 'columns' on rocks facing waves. Raffles Lighthouse, May 04 |
 With long stems in more sheltered areas. Pulau Semakau, Feb 07 |
 Tiny bumps reproductive structures? |
 Raffles Lighthouse, Jul 06  |
 Sisters Islands, Jan 06  |
 Sisters Island, Aug 07  Some have spines on the edges. |
Pyramid seaweeds on Singapore shores
| Photos for free download from wildsingapore flickr |
*Seaweed species are difficult to positively identify without microscopic examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Turbinaria
species recorded for Singapore Pham, M. N., H. T. W. Tan, S. Mitrovic & H. H. T. Yeo, 2011. A Checklist of the Algae of Singapore.
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Links
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University of Western Australia Press. 300pp.|
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