Any idea what this is? I think algae of some sorts.. [Archive]

View Full Version : Any idea what this is? I think algae of some sorts..

psychofishy

04/21/2009, 05:58 PM

Any idea what this is? I think algae of some sorts..
They're kinda popping up on several locations, seem bright white when looking at them, the bottomside looks kinda greenish, they're on stem.

http://www.ruudgoedhart.nl/pod/algae.jpg

ReneX

04/21/2009, 07:20 PM

Congratulations, that looks like <i>Acetabularia</i> or a close relative, known as mermaid's winecup or wineglass algae. It's said to sometimes pop out of liverock; the stuff is suposed to be delicate and rather tough to ship so it isn't offered for sale much. I've never had it in my tanks but it's supposed to be a harmless and decorative addition.

psychofishy

04/22/2009, 07:15 AM

Thanks :) Good to hear they're not bad... . I like 'm!
Hoping they'll spread fast, as there's no corals in the system anyways..

HighlandReefer

04/22/2009, 08:19 AM

Yep looks like an Acetabularia sp. as noted above:

http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&ei=JCfvSbSxN5DglQeiyuT9Dw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Acetabularia&spell=1

I like it. ;)

MartinEric

04/22/2009, 10:21 PM

Yes a nice looking algae, I like it to.

Hephalump

04/23/2009, 12:32 AM

These are a nice algae. I get them in my tank from time to time, they pop up out of the rock, hang around for a little while then eventually die back. How big are yours? mine are always really tiny.

Mentat

04/23/2009, 05:48 AM

Agree with Acetabularia (http://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=32940&-session=abv4:47FBBEEC0a5451E14DnprGFDBFAB) ID. Very pretty and fragile macroalgae. A nice live rock with them and some of the smaller colorful tube worms would look great.

Mentat

04/23/2009, 09:03 AM

Oops, too late to edit, but wanted to add a bit of Acetabularia trivia. This little macroalgae had a moment of scientific fame in the 1930's when J. Hammerling conducted an experiment using two species of this single celled green algae.

By cutting and interchanging the two different species umbrella like tops , he showed that the nucleus of a cell (on the base) contains the genetic information that directs cellular development. Soon later, DNA was identified by other researchers.