Weirdo Macro ID help needed

[Frick-n-Frags]

ALL RIGHT! Oher people think algae is cool too. To me it rivals the animals for the weirdest DrSeuss award.

Anyway, I only have the old Littler Marine Algae book and I have no clue what these guys are, probably weirdo Pacific stuff.

This first one is a red plate of algae about 1.5"-2" in diameter. It is a bright crimson color and actually reminds me of a rubber version of some coralline algae I have seen. I pushed it up onto some zoos for a size reference. There is also a tiny strand of halimeda incrassata for reference.

[Frick-n-Frags]

I also have this rubbery brown leaved plant that has formed a colony about 3" wide with 1" dia and about 1/4" thick leaves.
This was difficult to photo as the upright leaves were really whipping around in the PH breeze. I have 2 pics, one with flash, and one without. The golden brown toward the lower, front, left seems to be a piece of brand new growth. I am reall excited to see some of these bizarre macros show up and stick around for a while.

[Frick-n-Frags]

Here is the non flash pic. Sorry it sucks, this is at the threshold of my photo abilities.

[K. Lee]

You might not be so "delighted" if the reason you are seeing these algae are because they are spreading because of nutrients in their home waters. Just a thought, be it grim.

BTW, F-n-F (or anyone else), if you wouldn't mind , would you take a look at this thread http://reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=146403 , and maybe help me out with some answers if you have any? Also, I've got a weird algae I'd like you to try and identify for me someday when I post a picture of it.

[Frick-n-Frags]

well gee, K. Lee, I dose Kent iron +Mn too. My whole goal is to have as many different types of algae as I possibly can.

My take on the whole chemical thing is this: Each plant presumably has different nutrient/trace requirements than the others. Each plant therefore probably has a different limiting factor which will cause it to die or go to seed feeling that it is about to die, whatever. I feel that having only one plant species, you are guaranteed to hit the limiting nutrient wall whereas having many, spreads the nutritional requirements out over many different nutrients and therefore ups the odds that no one plant will hit the wall. There is just no large mass of any single type of plant and I just think so many factors get balanced out by the diversity.

So anyway, that's why I am so happy to see these guys. I have small populations of potential pests like Dictyota, but they only grow in a few areas of my system and barely spread because there is just too much other stuff competing. Here is what I believe to have so far

I have 2 sp of Halimedas, 3sp of Caulerpa, Cladophora(I think), 2sp of Valonia, a couple of wads of Bryopsis, 2 sp of Dictyota, a few Neomeris(pretty insignificant), the beginnings of some fan shaped stuff like Udotea or Rhipocephalus, tons of coralline and of course, good ole cyanoslime (green and red :D) as my current macro diversity.

I still want to add Chaetomorpha, Sargassum, and any crazy red macros I can get my hands on. And i will always grab different Caulerpa species.

So, let's see your Dr Seuss algae. I'm curious now. I just LUUUV macros. :D

[K. Lee]

LOL. :p You will be impressed. :D I'll warm you up with it is a single "blade", or frond, maybe thallus? /shrug. AND, it is orange, has red spots, and is BOTH slimy AND rubbery too the touch. :eek1: :eek2: Excited?

Btw, my bit about the nutrients, which, I don't think you got was that it may be on the reef. I can only assume (durn I think you edited your post). Originally you posted something to the effect of being happy that "these guys were showing up". So I assumed you meant you were happy that the plants were arriving on live rock, now (present tense).

I'll post a pic. :D You may be my only hope F-n-F!!!! :D

[K. Lee]

Here it is, what, I mistakingly thought you edited before: "I am reall excited to see some of these bizarre macros show up and stick around for a while".

[Frick-n-Frags]

I think your pic upload may have not made it. Oh, you are such a tease. :D sounds very interesting now.

It doesn't have "Pennplax" stamped on it anywhere does it??? :D

[K. Lee]

Originally posted by Frick-n-Frags
I think your pic upload may have not made it. Oh, you are such a tease. :D sounds very interesting now.

Heheh

Originally posted by Frick-n-Frags
It doesn't have "Pennplax" stamped on it anywhere does it??? :D

LOL

[6-line]

frick:

are you familiar with Lobophora variagata?

Those brown algae pics somewhat resemble it but the pic quality doesn't allow for much detail.

Just curious if you thought the two were the same.

6

[K. Lee]

Threatening barrier reef. :( At least there is awareness.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/01/29/australia.reef.reut/index.html

[Frick-n-Frags]

No, my frustrating little book only has Lobophora variegata.

I'll have to look for that. This comparison of the L variegata to my stuff would be like comparing potato chip Pavona cactus to the heavier Pavona decusata. Or it looks just like a brown version of Codium.

[K. Lee]

F-n-F

Here's mine. :D

First it is the algae described above, but the color is a bit dark because the image is a bit overexposed, I think.

I'll attach a detail from the pic in the next post.

FWIW, there's no visible parts or sections like in green algae or brown that I can see. There may be a holdfast in the rock. I think the red "dots" could be a reproductive structure, but, this is the only one I've seen so far.

[K. Lee]

Detail from above pic.

[K. Lee]

Maybe it is not even an alga? You can see the surface has a fairly thick coating of something (what I described above as slimy and rubbery) from the reflections in the detail.

[Fredfish]

K. Lee, you are such a tease. Give us a good pic of that algae so that we can admire it in all its glory.

I have had a lot of different algaes in my tank, but none of the cool stuff you guys are showing!

Fred.

[Frick-n-Frags]

I can't make it out. Rats! Are those flatworms sitting on the surface?

I also found a thin sheet of brown algae in my tank. Opaque but very thin, about 1" dia piece. This is getting too cool.

[K. Lee]

No to the flatworms. I believe they could be some kind of reproductive structure, like the sporangium of a fern? Not sure if that is applicable.

About the pic, yeah, it is being buried by my one Merulina spp. you see. The algae(?) is about 3" across, and has developed a very "wavy/curved" edge. When I first noticed it, it had no waves. The bryopsis around it doesn't help me get a picture either, or the fact that it is growing horizontally towards my position.

[worf59]

Frick

YGPM

[billsreef]

K. Lee,

What kind of camera are you using? Does it have manual controls for shutter speed and aperature? Maybe we can give you some advice to get a better picture. Looks like it could be interesting specimen of something, just need a clearer shot ;)

[Frick-n-Frags]

6-line. That brown plant has grown a few thin leaves too now. It is looking a lot more like the Lobophora pics in my book, so until shown a better guess, Lobophora it is. thanx

[6-line]

F-n-F,

if it is indeed lobophora, I'd be puling that junk out of there now.

It's hard to remove when new but mature it'll wafer or flake up and make removal somewhat easier.


6

[Frick-n-Frags]

hey 6, thanx for the thoughtful warning. I should explain what I am doing: I am trying an experiment in which I will maximize my algae biodiversity into as many genera (and species within) as I can obtain and during this, not let any one algae get to dominant proportions.

My goal is to see if I can get a certain stability WRT nutrient absorbtion and plant mass, that both keps the fertilizers down AND never limits out any key nutrient that would cause a particular algae to crash. So I am encouraging several potentially obnoxious algae such as Dictyota, Briopsis, C peltata(racemosa var). They aren't obnoxious when they don't really spread much. I also have 6 boxes of water on my system so I can actually evacuate corals to somewhere else if it looks like there will be algae-coral disputes.

[Jimbo327]

I have a super nuisance algae that laughs at dictyota and bryopsis. It will take over your tank in a month, and out-compete everything in your tank. I'll take a picture of it later.

[cal3v]

I have some that I think is an algae, its pink and it glows under actinics:) .

[K. Lee]

Something shredded the algae I posted the pic of just the other day. I don't know who dunnit, maybe a bristleworm?

Still hoping for an id for that algae.