Abstract
ON April 14, 1959, during a research trip along the coast of Victoria, Australia, the beach at Bridgewater Bay, near Portland, was observed from a distance to show a deep red band at about high-water mark, and the sea to be similarly coloured close inshore. The band on the beach was up to 25 ft. broad and several hundred yards long, and consisted of enormous numbers of deep red algal balls, each about 1 cm. in diameter. The mass of balls was generally 1–2 in. deep, but in places reached 10 in. Amongst rocks at the end of the beach the balls were piled up 2–3 ft. high, and large rock pools were completely filled with them. Other algæ were virtually absent from this drift, but further eastwards along the beach fairly rich drift of other algæ occurred. In no case were the red algal balls found attached to any other alga or marine angiosperm.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fritsch, F. E., “The Structure and Reproduction of the Algæ”, 2, (1945).
Moore, L. B., Trans. Roy. Soc. N. Z., 72, 333 (1943).
Moore, L. B., Trans. Roy. Soc. N. Z., 78, 48 (1950).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WOMERSLEY, H., NORRIS, R. A Free-Floating Marine Red Alga. Nature 184, 828–829 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/184828a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/184828a0
This article is cited by
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
