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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
PRESENTED BY
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DONNI: CENTER 20 WES •<? NEW YORK, JI.X. 10019
THE SEA-BEACH AT EBB-TIDE
THE
SEA-BEACH AT EBB-TIDE
A GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF THE SEAWEEDS AND THE LOWER ANIMAL LIFE FOUND BETWEEN TIDE-MARKS V>
BY AUGUSTA FOOTE ARNOLD
WITH MORE THAN 600 ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1901
And hath been tutor'd in the rudiments
Of many desperate studies.
SHAKSPERE.
Copyright. 1901, by THE CENTURY Co.
Published May, 1901
TH£ N£W YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR LENOX AND TILOEN FOUNDATIONS
Lj
THE DeViNNE PRESS.
PREFACE
THIS volume is designed to be an aid to the amateur collector and student of the organisms, both animal and vegetable, which are found upon North American beaches. In it are described many invertebrates and some of the more notable varie- ties of seaweeds, and each individual is given its proper place in the latest classification.
The technicality of classification or scientific grouping may at first seem repellent, but it in reality makes the study of these objects more simple ; and a systematic arrangement has been adopted in the belief that it is the easiest as well as the only sat- isfactory way of becoming familiar with the organisms described. Without it a very confused picture of separate individuals would be presented to the mind, and a book like the present one would become a mere collection of isolated scraps of information. Mor- phology, or the study of structure, has been touched upon just enough to show the objects from the biologist's point of view and to enable the observer to go a little beyond the bare learning of names.
Scientific names have been used from necessity, for the plants and animals of the beach are so infrequently observed, except by scientific people, that but few of them have common names ; and. as a matter of fact, the reader will find that a scientific name
-*
is as easily remembered as a common one. Technical phrase- ology has, however, been avoided as much as possible, even at the
vi PREFACE
expense of conciseness and precision ; where it has been used, care has been taken to explain the terms so that their meaning will be plain to every one. A general glossary has been omitted, but the technical terms used have been indexed. The illustrations will bear the use of a hand-glass, and this will often bring out details which cannot well be seen by the unaided eye.
The systematic table of the marine alga?, as given in Part I, and followed in the text, will be of use to collectors who wish to make herbaria, In order to name and group specimens such a guide is necessary. Should specific names lead to embarrassment, many of them can be neglected, for the names of genera are often a sufficient distinction.
Since so many species of invertebrates are found on the beach that a complete enumeration of them is impracticable, only the most conspicuous ones have been selected for description in Part II ; but the attempt has been made to designate the various classes and orders with sufficient clearness to enable the collector to identify the objects commonly found on the shore, and to follow the subject further, if he so desires, in technical books.
It is hoped that this book will suggest a new interest and pleasure to many, that it will encourage the pastime of collecting and classifying, and that it will serve as a practical guide to a better acquaintance with this branch of natural history, without neces- sitating serious study. Marine organisms are interesting ac- quaintances when once introduced, and the real purpose of the author is to present, to the latent naturalist, friends whom he will enjoy.
Grateful acknowledgment is here made to the following per- sons who have kindly assisted and advised the author and have also extended valued courtesies to her in the preparation of this book : Smith Ely Jelliffe, M.D., Ph.D. ; Herbert M. 'Richards, A.B., Ph.D., Professor of Botany in Barnard College ; Marshall A.
,
..
i
PREFACE vii
Howe, A.B., Ph.D. ; the Rev. George A. Hoist ; the Long- Island Historical Society of Brooklyn for the use of its fine herbarium, containing the collections of Mr. John Hooper, Mr. A. R. Young, and others, from which most of the illustrations of algae in this book were photographed ; Miss Toedtleberg, Librarian of the Long Island Historical Society ; Miss Ingalls, in charge of the Museum of the Long Island Historical Society ; Dr. Theodore Gill ; James
A. Benedict, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Marine Invertebrates in the Smithsonian Institution ; Miss Mary J. Rathbun, second Assistant Curator of Marine Invertebrates in the Smithsonian Institution ; Miss Harriet Richardson ; and especially to Mr. John
B. Henderson, Jr.
Thanks, also, are due to Messrs. Macmillan & Co. for permis- sion to use cuts from the " Cambridge Natural History," Parker and HaswelFs "Zoology," and Murray's " Introduction to the Study of Seaweeds" ; to Swan Sonnenschein & Co. for the use of cuts from Sedgwick's "Student's Text-book of Zoology"; to Wilhelm Engelmann for a cut from "Die natiirlichen Pflauzenf amilien " of Engler and Prantl ; to Little, Brown & Co. for permission to reproduce illustrations from Agassiz's " Contributions to the Natural History of the United States " ; to Henry Holt & Co. for a cut from McMurrich's " Invertebrate Morphology " ; to Houghton, Mifflin & Co. for cuts from the " Riverside Natural History " and Agassiz's " Seaside Studies in Natural History " ; to the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts for the use of illustrations from VerrilPs " Report upon the Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound and the Adjacent Waters," Gould's " Invertebrata of Massachusetts" (ed. Binney), and certain fisheries reports; and to the United States government for illustrations taken from Bulletin 37 of the Smithsonian Institution and from reports of the United States Fish Commission.
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
PAGE
i Signs on the Beach 1
ii Collecting 6
in Classification 19
iv Animal Life in its Lowest Forms 21
v Distribution of Animal Life in the Sea 23
vi Some Botanical Facts about Algae 25
vn Naming of Plants 28
vin Distribution of Algae 30
ix Some Peculiar and Interesting Varieties of Algae '. . 32
x Uses of Algae 37
xi Collecting at Bar Harbor 40
PAET I
MARINE ALG.E
i BLUE-GREEN SEAWEEDS 47
(CYANOPHYCE^E)
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS 47
(CHLOROPHYCE.E)
ii OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS 61
(PILEOPHYCE2E)
in RED SEAWEEDS 75
(RHODOPHYCE.E OR FLORIDE.E)
PART II
MARINE INVERTEBRATES i PORIFERA (SPONGES) 99
II CCELENTERATA (POLYPS' Ill
ix
: CONTENTS
MARINE INVERTEBRATES (Continued)
PAGE
in WORMS 159
(PLATYHELMINTHES, NEMATHELMINTHES, ANNULATA)
IV MOLLUSCOIDA 187
V ECHINODERMATA 199
vi ARTHROPODA 237
vn MOLLUSCA 299
vin CHORDATA 471
INDEX . 479
INTRODUCTION
In vain through every changeful year Did nature lead him as before ; A primrose by a river's brim, A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more.
At noon, when by the forest's edge He lay beneath the branches high, The soft blue sky did never melt Into his heart ; he never felt The witchery of the soft blue sky.
WORDSWORTH.
To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language.
BRYANT.
Xll
INTRODUCTION
SIGNS ON THE BEACH
THE sea-shore, with its stretches of sandy beach and rocks, seems, at first sight, nothing but a barren and uninteresting waste, merely the natural barrier of the ocean. But to the obser- vant eye these apparently desolate reaches are not only teeming with life ; they are also replete with suggestions of the past. They are the pages of a history full of fascination for one who has learned to read it.
In this history even the grains of sand have a part. Though so humble now, they once formed the rocky barriers of the shore. They stood as do the rocks of to-day, defiant and seemingly ever- lasting, but the fury of the sea, which knows no invincible adver- sary, has laid them low. Every coast-line shows the destructive effects of the -sea, for the bays and coves, the caves at the bases of the cliffs, the buttresses, stocks, needles, and skerries, are the work of the waves. And this work is constantly going on.
Even a blind man could not stand long upon a shingly beach without knowing that the sea was busily at work. Every wave that rolls in from the open ocean hurls the pebbles up the slope of the beach, and then as soon as the wave has broken and the water has dispersed, these pebbles come rattling down with the currents that sweep back to the sea. The clatter of the beach thus tells us plainly that as the stones are being dragged up and down they are constantly knocked against each other; and it is evident that by such rough usage all i l
2 INTRODUCTION
angular fragments of rock will soon have their corners rounded off and become rubbed into the form of pebbles. As these pebbles are rolled to and fro upon the beach they get worn smaller and smaller, until at length they are reduced to the state of sand. Although this sand is at first coarse, it gradually becomes finer and finer as surely as though it were ground in a mill ; and ultimately it is carried out to sea as fine sediment and laid down upon the ocean floor.1
The story of the sands is not only one of the conflict of the sea and rocks ; it is also a story of the winds. It is the winds that have rescued them from the waves and driven them about, sifting and assorting them, arranging them in graceful forms, and often heaping them up into dunes which, until fastened by vegetation, are themselves ever moved onward by the same force, sometimes burying fertile lands, trees, and even houses in their march. The sands, moreover,' are in turn themselves destructive agents, to whose power the many fragments which strew the beach and dunes bear ample witness. The knotty sticks so commonly seen on the beach are often the hearts of oak- or cedar-trees from which the tiny crystals of sand have slowly cut away their less solid outer growth. Everything, in fact, upon the sands is " beach-worn," even to the window-glass of life-saving stations, which is frequently so ground that it loses its transparency in a single storm.
The beach is also a vast sarcophagus holding myriads of the dead. " If ghosts be ever laid, here lie ghosts of creatures innu- merable, vexing the mind in the attempt to conceive them." And there are certain sands which may be said to sing their requiem, the so-called musical sands, like the "Singing Beach" at Manchester-by-the-Sea, which emit sounds when struck or other- wise disturbed. On some beaches these sounds resemble rumbling, on others hooting ; sometimes they are bell-like and even rhyth- mical. The cause of this sonorous character is not definitely known, but it is possibly due to films of compressed gases which separate each grain as with a cushion, and the breaking of which
1 Huxley.
SIGNS ON THE BEACH 3
causes, in the aggregate, considerable vibrations. Such sands are not uncommon, Laving been recorded in many places, and- they exist probably in many others win-re they have escaped observation. They may be looked for above the water-line, where the sand is dry and clean.
We have to do, however, in this volume, not with the history of the past, nor with the action of physical forces, but with the life of the present, and to find this, in its abundance, one must go down near the margin of the water, where the sands are wet. There is no solitude here ; the place is teeming with living things. As each wave retreats, little bubbles of air are plentiful in its wake. Underneath the sand, where each bubble rose, lives some creature, usually a mollusk, perhaps the razor-shell 8olen eitxix. By the jet of water which spurts out of the sand, the common clam MI/<I (ir( iKiria reveals the secret of its abiding-place. A curious groove or furrow here and there leads to a spot where Polynices lieros has gone below; and the many shells scattered about, pierced with circular holes, tell how Polynices and Nassa made their breakfast and their dinner. Only the lifting of a shovelful of sand at the water's edge is needed to disclose the populous community of mollusks, worms, and crustaceans living at our feet, just out of sight.
Even the tracks and traces of these little beings are full of information. What may be read in the track of a bird on the sand is thus described by a noted ornithologist :
Here are foot-notes again, this time of real steps from real feet. . . . The imprints are in two parallel lines, an inch or so apart; each impression is two or three inches in advance of the next one behind ; none of them are in pairs, but each one of one line is opposite the middle of the interval between two of the other line ; they are steps as regular as a man's, only so small. Each mark is fan-shaped ; it consists of three little lines less than an inch long, spreading apart at one ex- tremity, joined at the other. At the joined end, and also just in front of it, a flat depression of the sand is barely visible. Now following the track, we see it run straight a yard or
4 INTRODUCTION
more, then twist into a confused ball, then shoot out straight -* again, then stop, with a pair of the footprints opposite each other, different from the other end of the track, that began as two or three little indistinct pits or scratches, not forming perfect impressions of a foot. Where the track twisted there are several little round holes in the sand. The whole track commenced and finished upon the open sand. The creature that made it could not, then, have come out of either the sand or the water ; it must have come down from the air — a two-legged flying thing, a bird. To determine this, and, next, what kind of bird it was, every one of the trivial points of the description just given must be taken into account. It is a bit of autobiography, the story of an invitation to dine, ac- ceptance, a repast, an alarm at the table, a hasty retreat. A bird came on wing, lowering till the tips of its toes just touched the sand, gliding half on wing, half afoot, until the impetus of flight was exhausted; then folding its wings, but not pausing, for already a quick eye spied something inviting ; a hasty pecking and probing to this side and that, where we found the lines entangled ; a short run after more food ; then a suspicious object attracted its attention ; it stood stock-still (just where the marks were in a pair), till, thoroughly alarmed, it sprang on wing and was off.1
Following the key further, he draws more conclusions. The tracks are not in pairs, so the bird does not belong to the perch- ers; therefore it must be a wader or a swimmer. There are no web-marks to indicate the latter; hence it is a three-toed walk- ing or wading bird. It had flat, long, narrow, and pointed wings because it came gliding swiftly and low, and scraped the sand before its wings were closed. This is shown by the few scratches before the prints became perfect. A certain class of birds thus arrests the impetus of flight. It had a long feeling-bill, as shown by the little holes in the sands where the marks became entan- gled; and so on. These combined characteristics belong to one class of birds and to no other; so he knows as definitely as
1 Elliott Coues.
SIGNS ON THE BEACH 5
though he had seen the bird that a sandpiper alighted here for a brief period, for here is his signature.
It is plain that tracks in the sand mean as much to the natu- ralist as do tracks in the snow to the hunter, and trails on the land to the Indian who follows his course by signs not seen by an untrained eye.
The tide effaces much that is written by foot and wing, but sometimes such signs are preserved and become veritable "foot- prints on the sands of time." In the Museum of Natural History in New York is a fossil slab, taken from the Triassic sandstone, showing the footprints of a dinosaurian reptile now extinct, which, in that long ago, walked across a beach— an event unim- portant enough in itself, but more marvelous than any tale of imagination when recorded for future ages. From such tracks, together with fragments of skeletons, the dinosaur has been made to live again, and its form and structure have been as clearly defined as those of the little sandpiper of Dr. Coues.
II
COLLECTING
IT has been said that everything on the land has its counterpart in the sea. But all land animals are separate and indepen- dent individuals, while many of those of the sea are united into organic associations comprising millions of individuals insepara- bly connected and many of them interdependent, such as corals, hydroids, etc. These curious communities can be compared only to the vegetation of the land, which many of them resemble in outer form. Other stationary animals, such as oysters and barnacles, which also depend upon floating organisms for their food, have no parallel on the land.
The water is crowded with creatures which prey upon one another, and all are interestingly adapted to their mode of life. Shore species are exceedingly abundant, and the struggle for life is there carried on with unceasing strife. In the endeavor to escape pursuers while they themselves pursue, these animals have various devices of armature and weapons of defense ; they have keen vision, rapid motion, and are full of arts and wiles. One of the first resources for safety in this conflict is that of con- cealment. This is effected not only by actual hiding, but very generally by mimicry in simulating the color of their surround- ings, and often by assuming other forms. Thus, for instance, the sea-anemone when expanded looks like a flower and is full of color, but when it contracts becomes so inconspicuous as to be with difficulty distinguished from the rock to which it is attached. They also have stinging threads (nematophores), which they dart out for further defense.
6
COLLECTING 7
The study of biology has great fascination, and the subject seldom fails to awaken interest as soon as the habit of observa- tion is formed. Jellyfishes, hardly more dense than the water and almost as limpid, swimming about with graceful motion, often illuminating the water at night with their phosphorescence, showing sensitiveness, volition, and order in their lives, cannot fail to excite wonder in even the most careless observer. Not less interesting are the thousands of other animals which crowd the shores, lying just beneath the surface of the sand, filling crevices in the rocks, hiding under every projection, or boldly - perhaps timidly, who shall say? — lying in full view, yet so incpu- spicuous that they are easily passed by unnoticed.
To find these creatures, to study their habits and organization, to consider the wonderful order of nature, leads through delight- ful paths into the realms of science. But even without scientific study the simple observation of the curious objects which lie at one's feet as one walks along the beach is a delightful pastime.
The features which separate the classes and the orders of both the plant and the animal life are so distinctive that it requires but very superficial observation to know them. It is easy to discriminate between mollusks, echinoderms, and polyps, and to recognize the relationship between univalves and bivalves, sea- iirchins and starfishes, sea-anemones and corals. The equally plain distinctions between the branched, unbranched, tubular, and plate-like green alga3 make them as easy to separate.
The pleasure of a walk through field or forest is enhanced by knowing something of the trees and flowers, and in the same way a visit to the sea-shore becomes doubly interesting when one has some knowledge, even though it be a very superficial one, of the organisms which inhabit the shore.
ROCKY SHORES
Rocky shores furnish an abundance and great variety of objects to the collector. The seaweeds here find places of attachment, and the lee and crevices of the rocks afford shelter to manv ani-
•/
mals which could not live in more open and exposed places. The
8 INTRODUCTION
rock pools harbor species whose habitat is below low-water mark and which could not otherwise bear the alternation of the tides.
The first objects on the rocky beach to attract attention are the barnacles and rockweeds. They are conspicuous in their pro- fusion, the former incrusting the rocks with their white shells, and the latter forming large beds of vegetation ; yet both are likely to be passed by with indifference because of their plentiful- ness. They are, however, not only interesting in themselves, but associated with them are many organisms which are easily overlooked. The littoral zone is so crowded with life that there is a constant struggle for existence, — even for standing-room, it may be said,— and no class of animals has undisputed possession of any place. Therefore the collector should carefully search any object he gathers for other organisms which may be upon it, under it, or even in it, such as parasites, commensals, and the organisms which hide under it or attach themselves to it for sup- port. Let the rockweed (Fucus) be carefully examined. Among the things likely to be found attached to its fronds are periwinkles (Littorina litorea), which simulate the plant in color, some shells being striped for closer mimicry. Sertularian hydroids also are there, zigzagging over the fronds or forming tufts of delicate horny branches upon them. Small jelly-like masses at the broad divisions of the fronds may be compound ascidians. Calcareous spots here and there may be polyzoans of exquisite form, while spread in incrusting sheets over considerable spaces are other species of Polyzoa. Tiny flat shelly spirals are the worm-cases of Spirorbis. A pocket-lens is essential to enable one to appreciate the beauty of these minute forms. Under the rockweeds are many kinds of crustaceans ; perhaps there will also be patches of the pink urn-like egg-capsules of Piirpura at the base of the fucus.
Various kinds of seaweed abound in the more sheltered parts of the rocks, and among them will be found amphipods and iso- pods, many of which are of species different from those of the sandy beaches. Here, too, is the little Caprella, imitating the seaweed in form, and swaying its lengthened body, which is attached to the plant ooly by its hind legs. On the seaweeds, as well as in the tide-pool, may be found beautiful hydroids, and on
COLLECTING 9
them the curious little sea-spiders (Pycnogomdce), animals which seem to be all legs.
Mollusks, and other classes as well, differ in different latitudes. On the rocks of the Northern shores Littorina and Pnrpura shells are very abundant, the latter in various colors and beautifully striped. Limpets are also plentiful, but are not as conspicuous, since they have flat, disk-shaped shells. When their capture is attempted, they must be taken unawares and pushed quickly aside, else they take such a firm hold of the rock that it is diffi- cult to dislodge them. Near low-water mark under ledges will perhaps be found chitons, which are easily recognized by their oval, jointed shells. On the California coast in like localities will be found the beautiful Haliotis, Acnuca, and chitons. Every stone that is lifted will disclose numbers of little amphipods (Ganimarus), which will scuttle away on their sides to other shelter; worms will suddenly disappear into the mud, and per- haps a crab, here and there, having no alternative, will make a stand and fight for his liberty. Flat against the stone and not easily perceived may be a chiton, a planarian worm, or a nudi- branch. And just below the water's edge are sea-urchins and starfishes, which grow in numbers as the eye becomes accustomed to the search.
The rock pools are natural aquaria, more interesting by far than any prepared by man. The possibilities of these little sea- gardens are beyond enumeration. The longer one studies them the more one finds. In them all classes of seaweeds and marine invertebrates may be found and their habits watched. The great beauty of these pools gives them an esthetic charm apart from the scientific interest they excite. Perhaps one may find here a sponge, and removing it to a shallow vessel of sea-water can watch the currents of water it creates. Several sponges of the same species placed in contact will at the end of two days be closely united. If the sponges are of different species they will not coalesce.
In the clefts and crannies of the rocks are various fine sea- weeds, often of the red varieties, sea-anemones, hydroids, poly- zoans, crustaceans, mollusks, and ascidians. Crabs will be snugly
10 INTRODUCTION
ensconced under projecting surfaces. Most species are more plentiful at the lowest-water mark, and many are found only at this point and below.
SANDY SHORES
On sandy shores the greater part of the inhabitants live under the surface. Many give evidence of their presence by the open mouths of their burrows, and some distinctly point out these places by piles of sand or mud in coils at the opening. Some tubicolous worms have their tubes projecting above the surface. The tubes of Diopatra are hung with bits of shells, seaweeds, and other foreign matter. Some mollusks announce themselves by spurting jets of water or sending bubbles of air from the sand. The majority of the underground species, however, give no sign of their presence on the surface, and must be found by digging. Many of them go deep into the sand, and in searching for worms the digger must be quick and expert, or he will lose entirely or cut in two many of the most beautiful ones, which retreat quickly and to the extremity of their holes at the least alarm. One can be a rambler 011 the sandy beach for a long time without being aware of the many beautiful objects which inhabit the subsurface of the sand. The curious crab Hippo, will disappear so quickly into the sand that one is hardly sure he has really seen it. The vast number of worms will surprise any one who searches for them by their variety, their beautiful color, and their interesting shapes. Here again a glass is requisite to appreciate the delicacy and beauty of their locomotive organs, their branchiae, and so on. The most common of the gasteropod mollusks on sandy shores are Nassa obsoleta, Nassa trivittata, and Polynices (Lunatid) Jteros. The last are detected by the little mounds of sand which they push before them as they plow their way just below the surface. On more southern beaches, Fulgur, Stromfais, and Pyrula. are the common varieties. Olit'cHa, Olim, and Dottajc, also inhabitants of sandy beaches, will quickly disappear when uncovered by the waves, being rapid burro wers. Most of the many dead shells on the beach will be found to be pierced with a round hole, which is
i
PLATE I.
Egg-o;i|>sulcs of Purpura l:i]>illns. Egg-case of I'olyniccs lieros.
Egg-capsules of Buccinuin undatuni. Egg-case of the skate.
Fulirur caualiculata I whelk) and egg-ease^.
COLLECTING 11
drilled by the file-like tongue, or lingual ribbon, of Poli/nices, l'r<ixdli>inx, or Xasxa, which thus reach the animal within and suck out its sul (stance. Another similar species is Polynices (Neverita] (liijrticatu, which extends to the Gulf of Mexico, while P. heros is not commonly found below Hatteras. Crustaceans are abundant on the sandy beach over its whole breadth. Some of the sand-crabs live above tide-mark. Among these is the fleet-footed Ocypoda, which is interesting to watch. Often they go in numbers to the water's edge and throw up mounds, behind which they crouch like cats, watching for whatever prey the tide may bring up. When unable to outrun a pursuer they rush into the surf and remain there until the danger is past. The wet sand is often thickly perforated with the burrows of the sand- hoppers (Orcliesti(i). These often rise about the feet as do grass- hoppers in the fields.
Hippa talpoida is a remarkable crab, somewhat resembling an egg. It is not likely to be seen unless searched for by digging at the water's edge. It burrows so rapidly that one must be quick to catch it after it is exposed by the shovel. In some places the tests of " sand-dollars " are common. The living animal may be found buried just below the surface at extreme low-water mark.
The sea-wrack drifted in lines along the shore will repay care- ful examination, for here will be found many things belonging to other shores and deep water. It is often alive with sand- hoppers, which hop away while one searches for less common things. Often the most delicate seaweeds, numerous small shells, worms, polyzoans, etc., will be found there.
The surface of the sand-beach is strewn with remains of many species, usually beach-worn, but interesting nevertheless as ex- amples of species one would like to find in better condition, but good specimens of which elude ordinary search or are unobtain- able except by dredging.
Egg-cases form another class of objects which are often gathered with no idea of their identity. Of these the most com- mon are the long strings of saucer-like capsules which contain the eggs of the mollusk FttJyin; those having square edges being
12 INTRODUCTION
the egg-cases of F. carica, and those having sharp edges those of F. canaUculata. Collar-like sandy rings contain the eggs of Polynices (Lmiatia), which are cemented together in this shape. The boys of Cape Cod call them " tommy-cod houses." Cylindri- cal piles of little capsules, sometimes called "ears of corn," hold the eggs of Clirysodomus. The irregular masses of small hemi- spherical capsules are those of the common whelk (Buccimmi). The so-called "Devil's pocket-books" are the egg-cases of the skate.
MUDDY SHORES
On muddy shores the eel-grass (Zostera marina] grows abun- dantly, giving an appearance of submerged meadows. It is one of the very few flowering plants which live in salt water. In summer its little green blossoms may be seen in grooves on the leaf-like blades. Many animals live on and among eel-grass. Found upon it is the delicate gasteropod mollusk Lacuna vincta, and its eggs in little rings ; the iridescent Margarita helicina, and Nassa, with its bright-yellow eggs in small gelatinous masses ; also little worms (Spirorbis) in tiny flat spiral shells, compound ascidians in jelly-like masses, clusters of shelly or horny poly- zoans, isopods, planarian worms, and so on. Scallops (Pecten) will be found at the base of the plants, and the common prawns are very numerous, swimming freely about. Mud flats and shores are the homes of many mollusks, especially of Nassa obso- leta, — which is the most abundant shell of any considerable size from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico,— and of vast numbers of the tiny LiUorinella minuta, which serve as food for fishes and aquatic birds. Clams and worms of all varieties are also abundant.
There are many varieties of mud-crabs, of which the most com- mon are the " fiddlers," which honeycomb the banks and the sur- face of salt-marshes with their burrows. The common edible crab Callinectes liastatus is plentiful in bays and estuaries. The sluggish spider-crabs hide beneath the surface of the mud and in decaying weeds and eel-grass. Hermit-crabs are plentiful here as well as elsewhere. Panopeus is a sluggish crab found in shal- low water and in all sorts of hiding-places along the shore. It
COLLECTING 13
may often be found in dead shells, and, in the South, in holes in the banks. This genus is represented by a number of species, some of which are quite pretty.
WHARVES AND BRIDGES
On the piles of wharves and bridges may often be found beau- tiful tubularian hydroids in large tufts just below low-water mark, branched hydroids looking like little shrubs, polyzoaus, sea-anemones, mollusks, and ascidians. The species peculiar to these localities are the boring mollusk Teredo wm///.v, or ship- worm, the boring isopod Limnoria liynonun, and the boring amphipod CMura terebrans, all of which penetrate the wood and are most destructive.
The animals and plants of tropical beaches and coral reefs are so various and abundant, so curious and beautiful, as to make a description or even an enumeration of them in a brief space diffi- cult. The collector is bewildered and excited when he first views the profusion of the wonderful forms there found.
It is not generally knowrn that a fine species of " stony coral " is common from Cape Cod southward, growing in clear water as an incrustation on rocks, and developing little spires as it advances in age. This species, the Astrangia danae, is especially interesting, since it will live in a dish of clear sea-water, and the polyps will expand, showing a very close relationship to the sea- anemone. With care in changing the water this coral will live for days, and may be examined in its expanded condition with a lens of moderate power.
The most favorable time for collecting on any beach is at the lowest tide, many objects being then uncovered which do not appear higher up on the beach. At the spring-tides, which occur twice a month, at the period of the new and that of the full moon, the ebb is especially low, and affords an opportunity to search for forms whose habitat is below ordinary low-water mark. During storms deep-water forms are often torn from tln-ir beds and cast upon the beach. Shore-collecting at these times is often very interesting.
14 INTRODUCTION
EQUIPMENT FOR COLLECTING INVERTEBRATES
The equipment for collecting upon sandy beaches is a shovel, a sieve, and a net. Numerous trials should be made with the shovel from about half-tide mark to as deep as one cares to wade, and the sand raised should be carefully searched for shells, crus- taceans, and worms. By washing out the sand in the sieve the smallest specimens, which might otherwise escape notice, may be secured. On a rocky beach a strong knife and a net are suffi- cient. It is well to have a number of homeopathic vials for small specimens, which will be injured by contact with larger forms, and jars for holding the general collection.
PRESERVING INVERTEBRATES
To preserve specimens, they should first be placed in a weak solution of alcohol, the strength of which should be increased gradually until the animal is entirely free from water and is hardened throughout. If the alcohol becomes colored and sedi- ment falls to the bottom of the jar, the animal is degenerating, and the alcohol should be changed. Specimens for transporta- tion can be packed by wrapping each one in a bit of cheese-cloth and then placing them together in a large receptacle. ' Care should be taken to keep the fragile specimens separate. Saiid- dollars possess a pigment which discolors and soon vitiates alcohol, and consequently these should be separated from the other forms and placed where the alcohol may be changed from time to time as appears necessary. The homeopathic vials containing small specimens may be put into the can without injury to the other specimens. Special cans of various sizes, with handles and screw covers, are made for naturalists. One of these cans is a con- venient receptacle for carrying the alcohol to the station and for receiving the collection for transportation. Careful notes should be made on the spot of the conditions under which the species are found. One is likely to forget details if this is de- layed until one reaches home. Labels should be used, giving name when known, or a number when the name is not known,
COLLECTING 15
corresponding with the note-book. Names written with lead- pencil on a slip of paper will not be defaced by or injure the alcohol. Collections when arranged permanently should be placed in glass jars, the species being kept separate.
COLLECTING AND PRESERVING SEAWEEDS
To collect seaweeds one must search for them on rocks, in tide-pools, in the sea-wrack upon the beach, on piles of wharves, on eel-grass, and on the surface of incoming waves. It is well to follow the receding tide and take advantage of its lowest ebb (especially of that of the spring-tides, as mentioned above) to search the extreme limit of the beach in the short time it is exposed. Many of the red seaweeds are found there.
The equipment for collecting consists of a basket, two small tin pails, one small enough to be carried within the other, a staff with an iron edge at one end and a small net at the other, and a pocket-lens. Rockweeds (Fuctis) or other coarse gelatinous sea- weeds should be put into the basket. The pails, half filled with sea-water, will receive the other specimens, fine and delicate algae being put into the smaller pail. It is well to have a second small receptacle for Callithamnion and Griffithsia, if one can be further burdened. Desman>sti<i should be kept apart, if possible, since it discolors and decomposes other alga?; it should also have the earliest attention when the time comes for mounting, and salt water should be used for floating it upon the mount, otherwise the beauty of the specimen will be impaired.
Besides its use as a support, the staff is needed to dislodge specimens from the rocks, and the net to secure those that are floating just out of reach. When possible, it is desirable to secure the whole plant, including the holdfast, and to gather several plants of the same species, since they vary with age and other conditions, and it is also well to have duplicates for exchange. It is particularly desirable to obtain plants which are in fruit. Each specimen as it is taken should be rinsed in the sea-water to free it from sand.
Collections should be mounted as soon as convenient, and
16 INTRODUCTION
especial care in this respect should be taken with red algae, as they decompose quickly. The requisites for mounting are blotters, pieces of muslin, two or more smooth boards, weights, a basin, and several shallow dishes containing water. Fresh water has a strong action on the color and substance of seaweeds, and specimens should not be left in it for any length of time.
Lift a specimen from the general collection, and in a basin of deep water carefully wash off all superfluous matter ; then place it in shallow water and spread it out, trimming it judiciously, so that when mounted it will not be too thick and the characteris- tics be hidden. Specimens are more interesting and their species more easily determined when laid out rather thin, showing their branching and fruit. After the specimen is thus prepared, place it in a second shallow dish of water. It should now be perfectly clean. Float it out into the desired position, spreading it well, letting some parts show the details of the branching, and other parts the general natural effect of the mass. Run under it a rather heavy sheet of white paper, and lift it carefully from the water. If raised from the center, it is easier to let the water subside evenly and gradually without disarranging the parts. Some collectors find it better to float the specimen in water deep enough to allow the left hand to be placed under the sheet to raise it. Lay the sheet on a plate, and with a needle or forceps rearrange any of the delicate parts which have fallen together. A few drops of water placed on any portion will usually be suffi- cient to enable one to separate the branchlets or ultimate ramifi- cations. A magnifying-glass will be useful in this work.
Cover a blotter with mounted specimens, spread over them a piece of cotton cloth, and on this place another blotter, upon which lay more mounted specimens and a cloth. Proceed in this way until all the specimens are used. Lay the pile of blotters between boards, and on them place the weights. The weights should not be very heavy. Judgment must be used in assorting the specimens, those that are fine being placed together. Those that are coarse and likely to indent the blotters should be placed between separate boards. In this way a flat surface and an even pressure will be obtained. The blotters and cloths should be
COLLECTING 17
changed twice each of the first two days, then the cloths should be removed and the specimens left in press for a week, the blotters being changed daily. Be sure that the specimens are perfectly dry before placing them in the herbarium. Label each specimen with the name and the date and place of collection.
There are some seaweeds which cannot be treated in the above manner. FHCUS if placed in fresh water soon becomes slimy. It is so full of gelatine that it soon destroys blotters; therefore it is well to hang it up for several hours and then place it between newspapers, which should be frequently changed, and as the plant becomes pliable it should be arranged in proper position.
Those specimens which do not adhere to paper in drying should be secured with gum. When it is impossible to mount speci- mens at the time they are collected, they can be preserved by drying ; afterward they can be soaked and mounted in the usual manner. To dry the plants, lay them separately upon boards without pressing out the sea-water, and leave them in an airy, shaded place until thoroughly dry ; then pack them loosely into boxes and label, giving date and locality. Blotters or driers can be obtained at botanical-supply stores at thirty-five cents per quire.
HOW TO ARRANGE A HERBARIUM
The standard herbarium-paper is sixteen by eleven and a half inches. The sheets are single, white, smooth, and quite heavy. These, together with folded sheets of yellow manila paper, called genus-covers, are the only requisites. It is desirable to have also a case of shelves protected by glass doors. The shelves should be twelve by eighteen inches, and four to six inches apart. They are more convenient when made to slide like drawers.
The different species of one genus are gummed on one or more of the white sheets and placed within the folded manila paper, which serves as a cover. Each specimen should be signed with its name, place, and date of collection, thus :
C. nilnun. Bar Harbor. Aug. 12, 1899,
the generic name being indicated by its initial capital letter and the specific name written in full. To this an- often adilrd the
18 INTRODUCTION
name of the collector and some interesting comment. On the lower left-hand corner of the genus-cover is written the generic name in full and the species of that genus which the cover con- tains, thus :
f C. mlrum Cemmium < C. strictum
( C. diaplianum
The genera of an order are then placed within a cover and labeled in the same way, the legend then having the name of the order on the left and the genera on the right of the bracket, thus :
Rhodymeniacece, ( Cdllithamnion suborder < Griffitlisia Ceramiece ( Ceramium
When the order is a large one the genera are distributed through as many covers as may be necessary. The covers are then arranged on shelves in the regular order of their classification, and each shelf is labeled with the order it contains. Herbarium- sheets cost at retail one dollar per hundred. Genus-covers cost at retail one dollar and eighty cents per hundred.
Ill
CLASSIFICATION
THE first great biological division is into kingdoms, namely, the animal kingdom and the vegetable kingdom. Then by classification the vast number of existing animals and plants are grouped so as to give each individual a definite place. By this system a beautiful order is established, which enables the student to find any particular animal or plant he may wish to study, and also to know its general characteristics from the name of the group to which it belongs.
In broad generalization, objects of wide dissimilarity are rec- ognized as belonging to the same kingdom, as do trees and grasses, or as do birds and fishes. Certain trees or grasses and certain birds or fishes have such points of resemblance that they plainly show that they belong to subdivisions. The most untu- tored people recognize these distinctions, but the naturalist goes further and finds points of distinction which the casual observer overlooks.
The animal kingdom has a varying number of divisions, called branches, snhkin<i<l<>ntx, or jilii/fn. Some late authors have admitted twelve divisions, and have given them the name plujla. Each phylum is composed of a group of animals with a plan of struc- ture which is common to themselves, but differs from that of the animals of all other phyla.
The higher animals begin with the twelfth phylum, namely, the Clnn'diifd, or vertebrates. These animals have a spinal column, or series of vertebra1, while the lower animals, or inyrr tebrates are without a spinal column, and depend for stability
19
20 INTRODUCTION
upon muscles or coriaceous or calcareous coverings. The verte- brates are first represented in the fish-like forms. Bilateral sym- metry, however, or the uniform arrangement of parts on each side of a central axis, exists in several groups which are below the vertebrates, the first pronounced example being found in worms. Groups lower than worms have their organs arranged around a central axis or radiating from it, and were once all classed as radiates.
An animal is classified in accordance with its morphology, anatomy, histology, and embryology. Morphology determines its general shape, the position of its limbs, eyes, and mouth, and the covering of its body ; anatomy, the arrangement of its internal organs, such as the position of its heart, lungs, stomach, etc. ; histology, the character of the tissues of the body ; and embry- ology, the method of the development of the animal from the embryo to maturity. It is only after these exact discriminations have been made that the groups are arranged. Owing to the greater accuracy resulting from histology and embryology (methods which have been employed only in later years), many changes in classification have been made, and as science advances will continue to be made.
The primary groups are based on broad general characteristics, but their divisions and subdivisions are determined by closer distinctions. Animals having shells differ from those having a cartilaginous or those having a crustaceous covering, and are placed in different groups. Yet mollusks having a single or a double shell, having spiral or flat forms, living on land, in fresh water, or in the sea, while differing from one another, are all of one group. Lobsters and crabs, although both have crustaceous coverings, are very unlike ; and again, there are many species of both lobsters and crabs.
To group individuals, noting resemblances as well as differ- ences, a system of classification has been arranged with the fol- lowing divisions :
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family (or Suborder), Genus, Species.
IV ANIMAL LIFE IN ITS LOWEST FORMS
THE biological division, or discrimination, between animal and vegetable life, is based on the manner of assimilating food. Plants feed upon mineral substances, or, in other words, assimilate inorganic matter, while animal life requires for its support vegetable or some other organic matter.
Animal as well as vegetable life in its lowest forms begins with one-celled organisms, which are called respectively Protozoa (first animals) and Protopliyta (first plants). Both of these divi- sions are composed mostly of microscopic objects, and, together with other minute forms of life of the marine species, constitute a great part of the plankton , or free-floating organisms of the sea. These minute organisms seem like connecting-links between the two kingdoms. They were claimed by both botanists and zoolo- gists until the use of the microscope made close observation of minute structure possible.
Among the small animalcules of the phylum Protozoa are some which are familiar to all by name, such as the Infusoria, which are most interesting creatures to examine in a drop of water under the microscope. A more tangible example of the Protozoa are the Foraminifera. Fora tnhrif era, like diatoms, have a shell- like covering, and these shells, among the most plentiful of which are those of the genus Clolir/i'rimi, fall, as do those of diatoms, in immense numbers to the bottom of the ocean, and form re- spectiveh' what are known as (ilohh/rriiia and diatomaceous ooze. In course of time the sedimentary strata become fossilized ; thus, the stone of which the city of Paris is built consists of fossilized
21
22 INTRODUCTION
foraminifers, and the pyramids of Egypt are built of nummulites, another genius of Fora mi nif era. It is estimated that aii ounce of this deposit contains four millions of these protozoans, so it is impossible to conceive the numbers of once living animals repre- sented in the tombs of the Pharaohs. Telegraph-cables raised from the depth of two miles bring the message to naturalists that the bottom of the ocean at that depth is composed of little else than the calcareous shells of Foraminifera.
Many of the lower animals resemble plants in form. Hydroids and polyzoans are often gathered and preserved as seaweeds. Corals, sea-anemones, and holothurians are curiously like plants. For a time the confusion about the division of animals and plants was partly owing to this resemblance of forms, and the theory of the animal nature of corals was for a long time considered to be refuted by the testimony of a naturalist who declared that he had seen them in bloom. Later this class of animals was believed to occupy an intermediate sphere and partake of the characteristics of both kingdoms. The name zoophyte, meaning "animal-plant" or "mingled life," was adopted because of these resemblances and was formerly applied to these forms only. To-day it has a broader application. There is still a neutral class, called Protista, comprising organisms which have not yet been classified as plants or animals.
DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SEA
AjL living things which inhabit the sea have their appointed boundaries, and the localization of marine life is as distinct as is that of terrestrial life. Each kind of beach has forms of life peculiar to itself. Those animals which inhabit rocky shores or stony beaches or sand or mud may be looked for anywhere under similar physical surroundings. They are, however, modified by climatic conditions, and in wide ranges differ in genera and species. The rocky coast of Maine has a class of sea-urchins and starfishes which are different from those which live on the rocky shores of the northern Pacific coast, yet they are all easily recog- nized as belonging to the same family, and a description of typical forms is a sufficient guide to the recognition of their relationships.
A bathymetrical division defines the classes of animals accord- ing to the depth of water in which they live. Those which live near the shore are littoral species, those of the broad sea are pelayic, while those living at great depths are abyssal.
Their modes of life are distinguished by other terms. Those which float at or near the surface and are carried about by the currents, like the jelly fishes and the minute organisms mentioned elsewhere, are plankton. Strong swimming animals which move about at will are nekton. Those which are fixed, like oysters, sponges, etc., and those which crawl on the bottom, like crabs, echinoderms, etc., are benthos.
Again, geographical divisions are named, in recognition of climatic influences. The boreal fauna and flora on the Atlantic
23
24 INTRODUCTION
coast extend from Cape Cod northward; the American, from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras ; the West Indian, from Cape Hatte- ras southward. On the Pacific coast the divisions, without defi- nite names, are from the Isthmus to Acapulco, Acapulco to the Gulf of California, Cape Lucas to the Strait of Fuca. These divisions merge at indefinite lines, but the above limits are generally accepted as the points of broad division.
The shore or littoral fauna is especially abundant and com- prises more species that are curious in form and beautiful in color than the others. The invertebrates of the deep sea are mostly transparent and of a blue or violet tint, while the fishes are gray or bluish above and white beneath, which renders them inconspicuous to their enemies.
VI
SOME BOTANICAL FACTS ABOUT ALG.E
THE vegetable world is separated into two great divisions : th<tU<>l>lii/t<'s, or plants having no distinction of leaf or stem, and c<>nit<>j>/ti/t<x, or plants which have leaves and stems. All thallophytes that live in the water and are nourished wholly by water are called <il<ja>.
A second great division of plants is into crypto<i<nnx, or those that have no flowers, and phanerogams, or those that have flowers, by means of which seeds are produced and successive generations of plant life continued.
Thallophytes and cri/pfot/ants comprise the lowest and simplest vegetable organisms. Alga? belong to both these divisions ; to the first because they have neither sterns nor leaves, and to the second because they have no flowers.
The lowest forms of algse are microscopic in size, each indi- vidual being a single cell ; but in the ascending scale they attain curious and beautiful shapes, some growing to a gigantic size and in forms that resemble shrubs and trees. The green surface commonly seen on the shady side of trees, on stone steps, and in other damp places is one of the species of alg.T which consist of a single cell. This plant or cell divides, and the separate divi- sions divide and subdivide again and again, and in time the aggregate number is great enough to spread over a comparatively large surface, and thus become visible to the naked eye. This plant, the ri<-nr<>n>rcnx rnl</<irix, is a fresh-water alga. The J'ro- tuforcH* iiiritlix, or red snow, described on page 33, is a closely allied species. The green and blue-green scums and slimes on
25
26 INTRODUCTION
brackish ditches and on the stones and woodwork of wharves are also species of the lowest orders of algse and increase by cell- division. Many of them are in colonies incased in gelatinous matter. These, together with plants of a little higher order, though still of low organization, the Conferences, form a large part of the green vegetation between tide-marks.
The vegetative body of a thallophyte is a tJtaUns, and corre- sponds to stem and leaf. It is also called a frond. What corresponds to the root of flowering plants is in algse a disk or conical expansion of the base of the plant. It is simply a hold- fast by which the frond attaches itself to any submerged material. The algae which grow on sandy shores and on corals have hold- fasts which branch like fibrous roots and penetrate porous sub- stances in all directions ; but this is only for greater stability, and is an adaptation to the habitat. Holdfasts do nothing for algre other than the name implies, whereas real roots absorb the nourishment upon which plants live. AlgaB are nourished by the substances held in solution by the water which surrounds them.
Algas are the lowest and simplest in organization of all plants, because they are composed of but one class of cells, such as in flowering plants are called the parencJ/i/iua, or soft cells, these being the ones which compose the pulp of the leaf. In the lowest orders of alga1 single cells constitute individual plants, as in Pleurococcus ; but in the higher forms, such as Sargassum, they arrange themselves in such a variety of combinations as to re- semble plants which have leaf and stem. The botanical distinc- tion is that in leaf and stem there would exist the woody and the vascular cells as well as the parenchyma cells.
Beginning with plants composed of a single cell, the next development is into filamentous plants, which are single thread- like rows of cells, as in Cladoplwra. In Ulva is seen the earliest type of an expanded leaf. The cells are here arranged in a hori- zontal surface of plate-like or ribbon-like shape.
In Ulva there is a double layer of cells. The layers separate in Enteromorpha, giving a hollow or tubular form. In Monos- troma a double layer is opened or torn apart, giving a frond with a single layer of cells.
SOME BOTANICAL FACTS ABOUT ALG^E 27
The stein-like forms of certain alga? are composed of cylindrical cells which combine or grow in a longitudinal direction chiefly. Sometimes the cells are arranged evenly, in which case the stem seems articulated, as in some species of Cera in in in. Again, they are irregularly placed, so that the stem appears solid.
The highest types of algas in the differentiation of parts, or vegetative forms, are to be found in the Fucacew, of the brown seaweeds; the highest in the reproductive development, in the red class.
Reproduction by cell-division, in which the organism itself breaks up into two or more individuals, is called vegetatii-e repro- duction. Higher forms reproduce by spores, or germ-cells, which give rise to new individuals on germination.
The substance of an alga is more or less firm, according as the vegetable mucus or gelatinous matter it contains has more or less consistency; it is in?)i>l>r<(it<iceotis when the gelatine is scant and glossy, gelatinous when it is abundant and fluid, and cartilaginous when it is hard.
Some alga? are annuals ; a few are perennials, and cast off and renew their lamina? every season. Many plants present quite a different appearance at different seasons of the year, and so are often difficult to identify. Those which form spores throw off these isolated cells, which sink or are washed to positions where they germinate and begin their cycle of life. Many of the spores begin their growth at once, without regard to season, so the species is ever present.
VII NAMING OF PLANTS
THE real or technical names of plants, which at first appear long and unpronounceable, are in reality simple when the system of naming is understood. Every plant has a generic and a specific name. The genei-ic name is analogous to the surname of a person, such as Smith or Jones. The specific name is analogous to the Christian name of a person, such as John or James. The specific name never stands alone, and would have as little desig- nating character as John - - or James .
This is called the binomial (two-name) nomenclature. It was introduced by Linnaeus, and greatly simplified the system of naming. The rule in scientific nomenclature is that all names must be Latin or Latinized. This gives a universal language by which scientists of all countries understand one another.
The names of classes (the highest groups) and subclasses are adjectives or adjective nouns, expressing the most prominent characteristic of the class or subclass. Thus the four subclasses of the class Algce are :
Cyanopliycew (subclass of blue-green algae).
Cliloroplujcecc (subclass of grass-green alga?).
PJt(fopJii/ce(e (subclass of dusky-brown or olive-green alga?).
Eliodopliycew or Floridew (subclass of red alga?).
Orders are, with few exceptions, the names of genera with the termination -acew, as :
Ulracew, from the genus Viva.
Ectocarpacew, from the genus Ectocarpus.
GigartinacecB, from the genus Gigartiua.
28
NAMING OF PLANTS 29
Suborders, or groups between orders and genera, terminate in -ecc. Names of genera are nouns or words taken as nouns. They are derived from any source,— from prominent or peculiar char- acteristics, from localities, or from names of botanists,— or they may be wholly arbitrary. Personal generic names are divested of titles and take a final a, or, in many cases, for euphony, ni. Thus, Uh'a is the Latin for " sedge " ; Ectocarpus is from two Greek words meaning "fruit outside"; CoraUina means "coral- like"; GrinneUla is named for Mr. Henry Grinnell.
The specific names are commonly adjectives, but sometimes they are nouns, and occasionally are the names of the botanists who first described the plants, in which case the name terminates in -?' or -ii. The specific name always follows the generic name, thus :
Krf,>r<irjnis Hoopen, a species of Ectocarpus, first described by Mr. Hooper.
Grinnellia Americana, a species, peculiar to America, of a genus named for Mr. Grinnell.
(ii'ijfithsia corallina, a species resembling coral, and belonging to a genus named for Mrs. Griffiths.
With regard to the four subclasses mentioned above, it should be said that algae are strictly classified in accordance with their methods of reproduction ; but since allied species have, with few exceptions, the same color, the classification by colors is generally adopted as convenient and sufficiently precise.
Familiar, or, in technical language, " vulgar," names are very generally given to land plants, and especially to flowrers ; but sea- weeds are less in sight than flowers are, and so, save in a few instances, have not been named except b}r the man of science. To remember the scientific names will not be found difficult, for without effort or special pains to acquire the new vocabulary, the names, like those of new personal friends, will insensibly become fixed in the memory.
In the body of this work each of the groups (class, subclass, order, etc.), in the classification of both animals and plants, is indicated by a special kind of type.
VIII DISTRIBUTION OF ALGLE
THE eastern coast of North America has been divided into four sections, which correspond to the distribution of the algas which are characteristic of each section. The boundary- lines are not precise, since some species of each section extend beyond the defined limits; but arctic forms are not generally found south of Cape Cod, nor can tropical varieties be expected north of Cape Hatteras. On the intervening coast, however, there are some species common to both sections. The divisions are : (1) Greenland to Cape Cod ; (2) Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras ; (3) Cape Hatteras to Cape Florida; (4) the Florida Keys and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
On the Pacific coast such distinct lines of demarcation do not exist, there being no such natural barriers as are formed on the eastern coast, first by Cape Cod, and, second, by the stretch of sand-beach which extends from New York to Charleston, and which divides sharply the climatic varieties.
The whole shore is again divided laterally into three distinct belts, called the littoral, the laminariait, and the coralline zones. The first or littoral zone covers the space between tide-marks. Vegetable life in this zone is subjected first to exposure to the sun and air, and even to desiccation, and then to entire sub- mergence at constantly recurring periods. The rockweeds (Fucus), which are so plentiful in this zone, are very gelatinous, nature having apparently provided the gelatine to protect the cells of the plant from the effects of the alternating extreme conditions. Fucus and Enteromorpha predominate in this zone.
30
DISTRIBUTION OF ALG.E 31
The laminarian zone extends from low- water mark to the depth of fifteen fathoms. The Laiuinarincia and the beautiful red alga? (Floriilctt) grow here.
The third or coralline zone extends to the depth of about fifty fathoms. The alga? of this zone, the uullipores, are iucrusted with a deposit of lime which gives them the appearance of corals ; and, singularly enough, the corals, which are animal forms, simulate plant life.
Again, alga? have special habits and demand certain climates and seasons for their growth. Algologists register the place where a specimen is found, and in this way localities have been pretty well determined. However, great exactness has not been reached, and the collector is ever watchful to find an alga in some undiscovered home within the given range. Although alga? grow from extreme high- water mark to the depth of fifty fathoms, almost every variety may be found on the beach, those growing in deep water being frequently torn off and washed ashore by the waves. The heaps of sea- wrack will often reward one who examines them carefully for deep-water species. Sea- weeds are most abundant on rocky shores, particularly where there are stratified rocks with crevices, which afford shelter from the waves. Rock pools often contain beautiful varieties of the more delicate species. Red alga? will sometimes be found on the shady side of these pools. Sand-beaches are unfavorable to the growth of seaweeds, but fronds which have been carried long distances by the currents will frequently be found on such shores.
IX
SOME PECULIAR AND INTERESTING VARIETIES OF ALGLiE
THE species of seaweeds that are known and classified are said to number several thousands. These plants, which have neither vessels for the conduction of fluids, nor fibers, con- sisting simply of the first vegetable element, the cell, have, not- withstanding this limitation, assumed a great variety of forms. In size they vary from one one-thousandth of an inch in diameter, the smallest green plants known, to those which exceed in length the height of the tallest trees and form dense submarine forests, which in places make comparatively deep water impassable for boats. In texture they vary from a jelly- to a paper- and a leather-like consistency. In color they have all the shades of green, brown, and red.
DIATOMS AND OTHER MINUTE ALG.E
Among the smallest alga3 are diatoms. They are microscopic in size, but exist everywhere in both salt and fresh water, and are infinite in variety as well as in numbers. They have a sili- cious, shell-like covering, which divides and subdivides in their reproductive growth, forming varied shapes which are exceed- ingly beautiful and interesting to examine under the microscope. In vast numbers they float on the surface of the sea, and, together with other minute free-floating organisms, form the basis of food-supply for fishes. Their indestructible shells fall to the bottom of the sea, forming large deposits, which in time become fossilized. The city of Richmond, Virginia, is built upon
32
SOME PECULIAR VARIETIES OF ALGJE 33
a fossiliferous bed of diatoms, which measures twenty to eighty feet in depth and several miles in length.
Associated with diatoms, in fresh water, are desmids, which are green in color and resemble the diatoms except in having a cartilaginous instead of a silicious covering. Another minute organism, Pyrocystis noctihica, is luminous and is said to produce the beautiful phosphorescent effects seen in tropical seas. 7V/- chodexntium is a little alga which periodically occurs in great numbers, giving the water a red appearance, as in the Red Sea, which is said to derive its name from this circumstance.
RED SNOW
In the high latitudes of the arctic regions, also on snowy moun- tains at altitudes where all vegetable life is supposed to be extinguished, there sometimes appears a redness on the surface of the snow, which in some cases extends for many miles. At a certain place in Greenland the color was so vivid that an arctic voyager named the locality the Crimson Bluffs.
The strangeness and almost sudden appearance of this color in the snow have been so unaccountable to uninformed observers that it has been ascribed by them to the falling of bloody snow and has been regarded with superstition. The redness is caused by the growth of one of the smallest of plants, the J'rolor/H-citx iii rail ti. It is a simple one-celled alga containing protoplasm and endochrome (red coloring-matter). It grows by cell-division, the cell dividing into four, eight, or sixteen parts on a quaternary scale. Each part acquires a new covering while within the mother cell, and when it emerges it is a complete individual and ready to repeat the process. Only a few hours are required for its growth and development; hence its increase is rapid, and it requires but a little time to make itself manifest in those places where the conditions are favorable to its existence.
THE SARGASSO SEA
When the voyager reaches a certain region of the Novth Allan- tic, called the Sargasso Sea, he sails into a vast undulating marine
34 INTRODUCTION
prairie. Farther than the eye can reach is spread a yellowish- brown vegetation which covers the water as grass covers the plain. Sometimes these weeds are so thick as to impede navi- gation, and, seen from a little distance, seem substantial enough to walk upon. At other times, according to seasons and condi- tions of storm and wind, they are divided into strips or into island-like masses, with spaces of clear water between. If the sailor did not know the special conditions existing here he might suppose he had come upon dangerous shallows ; or were the waters less turbulent he might dream that he was floating among the water-weeds of an inland lake.
This vast acreage of vegetation, as large as the continent of Europe, lying southwest of the Azores and extending between the Canary and the Cape Verde Islands, was first reported by Columbus, and takes its name from the floating plant of which it is composed, the Sargassnm bacciferum, a species of the order Fucacefe, commonly known as gulf weed. Columbus's sailors took fright at the marvelous appearance and wished to turn back, thinking they had reached the end of the navigable ocean. They thought, if land were beyond, it was guarded by shoals, and that the weeds concealed dangerous rocks. Columbus threw out two hundred fathoms of line, but did not reach bottom, and con- tinued on his course for fifteen days before emerging into clear water. From that day to this the Sargasso Sea has attracted the attention of all navigators. It is especially interesting to scien- tists. The physicist finds there the phenomenon of the ocean currents holding in a vortex this immense mass of seaweed, the zoologist finds a great pasture in whose protecting shelter are living and breeding countless numbers of marine animals, and the botanist is puzzled because the source of this species of plant is clouded with doubt.
According to one theory, the plants are dislodged by the tem- pests from terrestrial beds and carried by the Gulf Stream into the huge eddy ; but since there does not exist enough of the attached plants of this species to supply the vast accumulation, another and more generally accepted theory is that the gulf weed lives also a pelagic life and adapts itself to the conditions of the
Agaruni Turner!.
PLATE II.
Macrocystis pyrifera.
Nereocystis Liitkeana.
SOME PECULIAR VARIETIES OF ALG^E 35
floating state, thus dispensing with the disk-like root, as it needs no holdfasts, and propagating solely by lateral and axillary ramification.
There are said to be one hundred and fifty species of Sargas- su»i, but 8. baccifenun alone constitutes the beds of the Sargasso Sea. The plant is the most highly differentiated of any seaweed, in that it more nearly approaches the true leaf and stem, and is described botauically as follows : Frond furnished with distinct, stalked, nerveless leaves and simple, axillary, stalked air-vessels. The integument is leathery, and the color brown of varying shades. The most striking peculiarity is the abundance of globular cells. These berry-like air-bladders give the plant buoy- ancy enough to support the weight of its innumerable guests. (Plate XVI.)
THE LAMINARIACE.E
In the laminarian zone, described above, grow the Laminaria- cece, an order of brown seaweeds, some of whose genera grow to enormous size, and in some places form dense submarine forests. Darwin speaks of the good service rendered by these plants to vessels navigating stormy coasts, where often they act as natural breakwaters, and again as buoys designating dangerous rocks near the shore 011 which they grow. The seaweeds belonging to this order, commonly known as oarweeds, tangle, devil's-aprou, and sea-colander, are frequently seen twelve to twenty feet in length, and others are measured by fathoms. One of the giant plants is Nereocystis L'dtkeaiHi, which occurs 011 the northwest coast. It has a stalk, sometimes three hundred feet in length, which bears on its extremity a barrel- or cask-shaped air-vessel, six or seven feet long, from the surface of which a tuft of fifty or more forked lamina? grows to a length of thirty or forty feet. The stem which anchors this immense frond is so small that the Aleutian Indians use it for fishing-lines. The sea-otter makes his home on its huge air-vessel, and the plant is called by the Russians the " sea-otters' cabbage."
But the longest of all known phmts is the alga Marrori/xfix. Its thin naked stem, the diameter of which seldom exceeds one quar-
36 INTRODUCTION
ter of an inch, is reported by one author to be seven hundred feet in length, by another fifteen hundre ' feet. It is terminated by a lamina fifty feet long, resembling a pinnatifid leaf, each leaflet of which, at its point of division on the stem, expands into an air-vessel as large as an egg. These air-vessels sustain the immense frond which floats on the surface of the water, its leaf- lets depending in a vertical position from the stem. M. pyrifera, the only species, is found in the Southern oceans and on the Pacific coast of North America.
Lessonia, another genus, resembles a palm-tree. It grows erect to a great height and has a stem like the bole of a tree. It branches in a forking manner and has depending from its branches laminae two or three feet long. The large stems from which the lamina? have been torn by the storms, and which have been cast ashore on the Falkland Islands, as described by Sir Joseph Hooker, resemble driftwood, as they lie in piles three or four feet high and extending for many miles.
Agaruni and Thalyssiophyttum are arctic genera, but they are found within our limits, the former in the North Atlantic. It has a simple but enormous leaf -like frond. The latter, which is found on the North Pacific coast, has a compound frond. Both are characterized by their fronds being perforated throughout with holes, giving them the name of sea-colander.
X
USES OF ALG.E
WATER covers two thirds of the surface of the earth, and algre, with a very few exceptions, constitute the whole vegetation which exists in that enormous area. They have, therefore, an important part to perform in the economy of nature. Algaa do not, like land plants, derive their nourishment from the soil to which they are attached, but from substances held in solution by water. In their growth they effect changes in the water analogous to those effected by land plants in the air ; that is, they change so-called impurities in the water into materials essential to animal life. The function of plants is that of transforming or manufacturing inorganic matter, which they assimilate, into organic matter (such as starch, albumen, sugar), which forms their own structure and which is the food essential to animals. In this process, plants inhale carbonic acid gas which animals breathe out, and exhale oxygen which animals breathe in. Plants feed on mineral substances and furnish vege- table food, thus keeping up the balance of life.
Fresh-water alga? have a like economic value. The green sur- face on stagnant pools is a vegetable growth whose function is to assimilate the matter which makes the pool offensive. A submerged district soon becomes covered with scum, or minute plants (HjiJittoplca atmulinn), which grow with great rapidity, using up the materials of the decaying vegetation, and in great measure counteracting the ill effects, in the atmosphere, of such decay. When the waters subside, the plants shrivel up and appear like thin paper covering the ground. This ephemeral substance soon
37
38 INTRODUCTION
disappears, without giving evidence of its nature in dust or gases, its body seeming to be a machine which transmutes, but does not hold, the substances on which it grows.
Algge, as has been said above, grow in definite zones, and each zone has also a definite animal life which finds there its food. Darwin says : " In all parts of the world a rocky and partially protected shore perhaps supports in a given space a greater number of individual animals than any other station." And speaking of the Laminariacece, he adds: "I can only compare these great aquatic forests of the southern hemisphere with the terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions. Yet if in any country a forest was destroyed I do not believe nearly so many species of animals would perish as would here from the destruc- tion of the kelp." The same may be said of the Sargasso Sea, where millions of living creatures make their home. In every kind of marine fauna there are species which derive, if not the whole, at least a part of their nourishment from the seaweeds.
The vegetation in the narrow boundary of the three zones is palpably inadequate to supply the needs of the animal life which exists in deeper waters. But over the broad area of the ocean there exists a vast number of pelagic, free-floating alga?, which, although microscopical in size, are almost infinite in numbers. In illustration of this it has been estimated that, although they are not especially numerous in the Sargasso Sea, yet if all the seaweed there were gathered into one mass and the free-floating algae into another, the bulk of the latter would exceed that of the former. The pelagic flora consists of Diatomacece, Protococcacew, Perifliniecp, and others. Undoubtedly it is on these pastures that fishes feed, as well as other organisms which in turn are food for fishes.
Funts and Laminaria constitute the kelp from which iodine is obtained, and were at one time the source of the potash of com- merce. Fncus vesicidosus is a constituent of a medicine used as a cure for obesity. Cliondrus crispus, commonly known as Irish moss, was a few years ago generally used as an article of diet. Porpliym vulgar is (laver) is used by the Chinese for soups. RJio- dymenia palmata (dulse) is an article of food in Ireland and Scot-
USES OF ALGJE 39
land, (h-nfilnria spinosa is used by birds, allied to the swallows, for making their nests — the edible nests found in large numbers on the islands of the Indian Archipelago, especially in the caves on the shores of Java, and gathered and sent to China, where they bring large prices and are used in making the famous birds'- nest soup. Graci/arix //r//nw/Vr.s, also a species of the Eastern seas, is the source of agar-agar, a preparation used in laboratories as a culture-medium for bacteria. Fossil diatoms are ground and used for polishing-powders. Seaweeds are everywhere used by farmers on the coasts as fertilizers.
XI COLLECTING AT BAR HARBOR
THE beautiful coast of Maine is a particularly good field for shore-collecting. The rocky coast harbors the boreal fauna and flora which depend upon such physical conditions, and the shores at Bar Harbor are typical of those found elsewhere in northern New England. The rocks give shelter from the beating surf, while life has exposure to the cold, pure waters of the arctic current. Everywhere along the shore, rock pools are to be found. These are perhaps the most fascinating of all spots to the col- lector. They are veritable gardens of the sea, where species flourish which naturally belong to deeper water, but which find in such pools conditions suitable to their existence.
At Bar Harbor one well-known and frequently visited rock pool is found in Anemone Cave. Entering a field at Schooner Head, one turns to the right and follows the rocky shore for two or three hundred feet. It is difficult to take this short walk without being constantly diverted and delayed by the various attractions one meets, such as the tide-pools, the barnacles which in places whiten the rocks, the periwinkles, the purpura shells, and the curious algae ; but at last one arrives at a cavern under an overhanging rock. Here is a large tide-pool which at first sight displays only a beautiful scheme of color. It is carpeted with a bright-pink alga, Httdeiibrandtia rosea, which incrusts the basin of the pool.
Interspersed with the pink are patches of a deep-red color, having a velvety appearance, which are formed by another crus- taceous alga, Petrocelis cruenta. The water of the pool is of crys-
40
COLLECTING AT BAR HARBOR 41
tal clearness, and as one gazes into it one object after another comes into view, until one is filled with astonishment at the num- ber of beautiful objects the pool contains. The little green balls, one half of an inch to one inch in diameter, which look like small green tomatoes scattered on the stones, are Leathesia difformis, an alga which cannot be mistaken for any other. Bunches of Coral! in<t officinal is, which resembles coral, as the name indicates, are abun- dant. This alga should be examined with a magnifying-glass. It is covered with calcareous matter, and its peculiar form of growth is beautiful and interesting.
The fronds of the laminarian Alaria cscnlcnta are tiny here, while just outside the cave they are to be seen several feet in length, beating against the rocks in the swash of the waves. Thorny sea-urchins (Strongylocentrotus drobachiensis) make green spots which look like tufts of moss. Yellow and green sponges in little cones are spread over small surfaces. Starfishes and ophiurans are plentiful. The Piirpura lapillus and Littorina litorea and rudis (periwinkles), so plentiful on this coast, are present. The Mi/tain* and the Saxicava and the Acmcea testudinalis are also to be found. A green crab (Card nun niccnas) is snugly hidden in a dark nook on the shady side of the pool, and many small crus- taceans scuttle away from under stones as they are lifted. The collector is always anxious for uncommon, or rather less plenti- ful, species, and here are found two specimens of nudibranchs, or naked mollusks, ^Eolis and Detidronotus. The Chiton ruler, a jointed mollusk, was also found here, and five species of sea- anemones were counted. As this is a favorite hunting-ground, the anemones have not been left to attain full growth ; but there are very many small ones which at first are not distinguishable, as they retract their tentacles at the slightest disturbance of the water and are then quite inconspicuous. After a little time of quiet watching they will be seen putting out their tentacles and expand- ing their beautiful flower-like forms. It is useless to try to cap- ture them uninjured, so tightly do they adhere to the rocks, and tlic difficulty of preserving them in ;m expanded form is so great that amateur collectors had better leave them undisturbed to beautify the pool.
42 INTRODUCTION
It was hard to resist robbing- this rock pool, where the author in half an hour counted twenty different species, and finally left, feeling that its treasures were not half discovered ; but collecting should be done elsewhere, and this pool be guarded as a gem to be admired and not to be despoiled.
This pool in Anemone Cave, although so very attractive, is surpassed in beauty and interest by pools on Porcupine Island, at the base of the cliff. This place is somewhat difficult of access, and the timid will not undertake the descent to it ; but the en- thusiastic collector, who overlooks small obstacles, will be repaid by a visit to this spot, where all the treasures of Anemone Cave are multiplied many times over. These pools are resplendent with large anemones, hydroids, nudibranchs, mollusks, echinoderms, crustaceans, and algee. Alaria esculenta, several feet in length, is beaten to a fringe against the rocks, and Agarum Turneri, the sea-colander, is also found here, together with beautiful speci- mens of Rlwdymenia palmata, which is so plentiful that it reddens the rocks.
A Metridiuiii marginatum, the most common sea-anemone of this coast, was taken here which measured six inches in diameter. This creature threw out so many of the processes used for de- fense that it seemed at first as though it were covered with some seaweed ; but the worm-like movements of these threads, which measured six inches or more in length, soon disclosed their nature.
On the more accessible shores of Porcupine Island are found the naked mollusks (nudibranchs) Molls and Dendronotus. Cling- ing sideways to the rocks just above high- water mark are many shells of Littorina rudis. They are fastened to the rocks by a glutinous deposit along the outer lip, and the peculiar exposure of the open end, as well as the position above tide-mark, indi- cates that this animal is undergoing transformation into a land species. lAttorina palliata is abundant on the rockweeds (Fucus] ; some of the specimens are banded with yellow, and all closely simulate the seaweed on which they cling. Beautifully banded specimens of Littorina litorea are also plentiful. Among other shells which are abundant here as well as elsewhere on this coast are Purpura lapillus, Acmwa testudinalis, Bmcinum unclatmn, Mya arenaria, and Mytittus ednUs.
COLLECTING AT BAE HARBOR 43
Under the rock weeds in small pools and crevices are the poly- zoans Buyula tnrrlta and Mewibranipora^ pilosa, and the hydroids Sertularia pumila and S. aryenfm.
The seaweeds Rhody)ne)ii<t pulmaia (dulse) and Desmarestia are plentiful ; also beautiful worms, crustaceans, and starfishes.
A very interesting beach is found a few hundred feet south of Otter Cliffs, to which an easy descent is made if one follows a pathway leading to it through a grove adjacent to the drive. Here one will be interested in the study of numerous and beauti- ful rock pools.
Sea-urchins (Strongylocentrotus drobacliit'nsis} seem to carpet some of them, having the appearance of mossy tufts. Beautiful pink and purple starfishes (Asterias rulyaris), brittle-stars (Ophio- )>h»lix (iculeata), sea-cucumbers (Pentacta frondosa), sea-anemones, and crabs are abundant. If one lifts a stone the little crusta- ceans OtrJiestia and Gannimrns will hurry away, and very likely an interesting worm or a uudibranch will be found. It is also most interesting to watch the barnacles, which are below the surface, reaching out their curled, feather-like feet in regular rhythmic grasping motions. The common mussels (Mi/tilhts edu- 7/.v), which in places blacken the shore, are beautiful under examination, and the silky network or byssus which forms the anchorage should be observed. x
The rocks are hung so plentifully with Ascophyllum nodosum (rockweed) that its beauty is likely to be passed over unnoticed. On the Ascophyllum is growing in tufts Polysiphonia faxtiyhitu ; other seaweeds, liJiodi/meniti jHihiHifu, CJiordaria flagelliformis, Des- Hinwstiii <iriifc<ita, Corattina officiiialis, and Ceramium, are so abundant that one forgets to value them at the moment. Higher up on the beach the rocks are spotted witli papery sheets, which, floated out in water, prove to be the beautiful purple Porphyra. A fine, dark colored, hairy scum on the rocks is Bangiafusco-purpurea. Sometimes one finds here fronds of Lamiiun-ia which have been washed ashore. Various green alga» are abundant. Even if not collecting, it is well to carry a small tin pail to the beach and float out pieces of the alga1 in order to observe carefully, if but for a moment, the beautiful forms they have in their natural state. Watched for a few minutes in a pail of water they disclose curi-
44 INTRODUCTION
ous ana surprising forms and habits which are difficult to watch leaning over a pool.
Most of the various species mentioned above are common along the whole shore, and may be looked for at almost any point where the water is free from contamination.
At the sand-beach are found species which do not inhabit the rocky shore, as the sand-dollar (Echinaraclmius parma), Polynices (Lnnati(i) Jieros, Mya arenaria, and others. After a storm various deep-water forms are washed upon this beach. Laminaria digitata, six feet long, is found here sometimes under these circumstances. Chord-aria flagettiformis, resembling long switches of hair, floats from the rocks near the shore. To the left, on the rock under the overhanging ledge, is a tide-pool which one would hesitate to deface by touching a single specimen. So crystal-clear is the water, so brilliant the Hildenbrandtia, so lovely the Corattina, that all seem placed there to excite admiration.
But most of all one should obtain the permission of the owner to visit Rodicks Weir. Here is an immense natural aquarium, full of living wonders. On a clear day, sunlight penetrates to the bottom, and at low tide the whole contents of the weir are clearly seen as one floats through the inclosed water-spaces. On the bottom are sea-urchins, many of them with sticks or stones on their backs, which the animals have placed there in the endeavor to conceal themselves ; starfishes feeding ; and great numbers of whelks (Buccinnm undatum). Cuttlefishes dart rapidly about, and skates, sculpins, and other fishes display their curious forms. Very likely a giant jellyfish (Cyania arctica] is entangled in the brush, so that one can examine at short range its wonderful and beautiful parts. Other jelly fishes may be closely scrutinized.
The alga Polysiphonia violacea floats in long feathery tufts from the stakes.
On the eel-grass are to be found Lacuna vincta and the delicate iridescent little shells of Margarita helicina.
Every tide brings different species of the ocean fauna to tem- porary imprisonment in this iuclosure, so that it is difficult to say what one may not chance to find in this interesting place.
PAET I MARINE ALG^E
SEAWEED
When descends on the Atlantic
The gigantic
Storm-wind of the equinox, Landward in his wrath he scourges
The toiling surges, Laden with seaweed from the rocks;
From Bermuda's reefs; from edges
Of sunken ledges In some far-off, bright Azore; From Bahama and the dashing,
Silver-flashing Surges of San Salvador;
Ever drifting, drifting, drifting
On the shifting Currents of the restless main; Till in sheltered coves, and reaches
Of sandy beaches, All have found repose again.
LONGFELLOW.
BLUE-GREEN SEAWEEDS (CYANOPHYCE.E)
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS (CHLOROPHYCE^)
47
TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BLUE-GEEEN SEAWEEDS DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER
Class
ALG-ffi
Subclass Cyanophycese
Order
NOSTOCACEJE
(Blue-Green Seaweeds)
Genera
/ Spirulina ) Oscillaria '\ Calotltrix ( Lyngbya
Species
f L. majuscula \ L. ferruginea
48
BLUE-GREEN SEAWEEDS
THE minute algae, which form patches of purple color on rocks, slimy layers or spots on wharves, bluish-green slime on mud, emerald-green films on decaying alga1, blue-green slime on brackish ditches, and so on, are various species of the subclass Cyanophyceae. The prevailing color of these plants is blue-green, but some are purple, brown, or pink. Some of them are gelatinous in texture and shapeless, others have more definite forms ; but all are too small to classify without the aid of a power- ful glass, and are not of special interest except to the botanist.
GENERA Oscillaria and Spiriilina
The genus Oscillaria is so named from an oscillating move- ment which these filamentous plants show when viewed under the microscope. They are very delicate blue-green threads occur- ring singly, or in loose or felt-like floating masses, or like slime or scum, on mud or woodwork. In Spiriilina the filaments ;nv spirally twisted like a corkscrew and also have a vibrating move- ment, tfpinrtina is often found growing with Oscillaria t and forms purple patches on wharves.
GENUS Calo tit t • ix
(" Beautiful hair")
Filaments one tenth of an inch long, terminating in transparent hair-like points, occasionally branching. The plant grows in fine tufts or like a fringe on alga? or in patches on rocks. Sometimes it forms a spongy layer, again a velvety stratum. The color varies in different species; it may be bright green, brownish- 4 49
50 MARINE
green, or dark bluish -purple. The genus is very common, and the plants are often found on the bottoms of boats.
GENUS Lyngbya
(Named for Hans Christian Lyngbye, a Danish botanist)
L. majuscula, mermaid's-hair. The filaments are curled or crisped, long, thick, and tenacious, matted together at the base, and blackish- green. The species grows in tufts on eel-grass and algse, and is often found floating free. It is common in summer everywhere south of Cape Cod and on the Pacific coast.
L. femiginea or cestuarii. In this species the filaments are thin, soft, and without stability (flaccid), so that they lie flat like a thin stratum. They are verdigris-green in color, and are found in brackish pools and ditches and on muddy shores near the sea.
TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER
Class ALGJE
Subclass
Chlorophyceae
(&rass-Oreen Seaweeds) Orders Genera
Ulothrix
CONFERVACEJE
ULVACEJE
VALONIACEJE
DASYCLADACE^l
UDOTEACEJE
CODIACEJE
Chcetomorpha
Cladophora Ulva
En teromorpha
Monostroma
Group Siphoneae f Chamredoris \ Anadyomene r Acetabularia ' Dasycladus Cymopolia
PenicllluK
Udotea
Halimeda
}
CAULERPACE^: Cciulei-pa
Species
C. melagonium C. cerea
c. a a it in
C. arcta C. rupestrls C. f/racilis U. lactuca U. latissima •E. clathrata E. compressct E. intestinalis . lanceolata
C. annulata A . flabellata
A. crenulata I), occidental-is C. barbata
{P. dumentosus P. cajtitottts P. P/iwnix ( U. flabt'Uatu \ U. con glut inata f H. tuna '. //. tridcns 1 II. opnntia
B. pluntosa
C. tonientosum C. prolifera
. M(\rlcana f. itliiHiomi C. IVurdeinanii
51
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS
r INHERE can hardly be a more fascinating group of plants JL than this, whether to the strictly scientific botanist or to the more catholic lover of nature. The green alga? are among the most widely diffused of plant forms. They grow practically in every place where enough moisture, together with light and air, is to be had. Between tide-marks on almost every coast, floating on the surface of the deep sea, covering damp earth, walls, palings, and tree-trunks, sticking to the surface of leaves in the moist atmosphere of tropical forests and jungles, and in- habiting almost every river, brook, pond, ditch, or casual pool of rain-water in all quarters of the globe, are members of this ubiquitous group to be found." l
The grass-green seaweeds are more simple in structure, and therefore are lower in order, than the red or brown alga?. They are among the lowest of all plants, many of them being minute single cells. They a,bound in fresh as well as in salt water, and in this respect differ from the other groups, the red and the brown alga? being almost exclusively marine plants.
As one approaches the shore, the attention is often attracted by the green mantle which covers everything overflowed by the tides. This consists largely of the confervoid alga?, which are very abundant and are found almost everywhere. They are dense tufts of fine thread-like plants, often matted at the base ; sometimes they are sponge-like, floating masses.
The Ulvaceae, the plants next higher in order, are the first which assume ribbon- and leaf-like expansions, and usually first engage the attention of the collector.
1 Kerner. 52
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS 53
In the green algas are found the extreme forms of one-celled plants. In rienrococcns the 'cell is microscopic in size. In the Siphoneae the plant still consists of a single cell, but it attains large dimensions and develops into forms resembling, in outward appearance, leaf, stem, and root (see Caulerpd).
Other plants consist of single rows of cells, called filaments (Confervacese), or of cells arranged in layers or flat surfaces, called membranes (TJlvacese).
ORDER CONFERVACE^l
The silkweeds. This order is characterized by cylindrical cells strung end to end, forming threads or filaments, branched and unbranched. The plants inhabit both fresh and salt water, and are very abundant and widely distributed. They grow in dense tufts, often matted at the base.
GENUS Ulothrix
A yellow-green, unbranched, decumbent, soft, hair-like fleece on the surface of rocks, extending indefinitely. This genus dif- fers from C/HttoniorpJia in the character of its filaments, which are soft and gelatinous in Ulothrwc, but bristle-like and wiry in Chcetomorpha.
GENUS Chcetomorpha
The frond is filiform; the filaments are coarse, rigid, and unbranched. In some species the filaments grow straight and in tufts from a definite base ; in others they are twisted together and are prostrate. Often they are found floating in masses. In C. tortnosa the filaments are as fine as human hair, but rigid, and so closely interwoven as to resemble a layer of wool on the rocks. The cell-divisions give a striped appearance to the filaments when dry.
('. in<'f<i<ionhuH. This species is dark green, with filaments erect,
coarse as a double bristle, and wiry; five 1<> twelve indies Ionic. It is found in rock pools from Boston northward. It does not adhere to paper in drying, and loses its color it' immersed in fresh water. (Plate III.) €. tvrea. Yellowish-green, with filaments erect and less rigid than
54 MARINE
in C. melagonium, which it otherwise resembles ; tufts three to twelve inches long ; cell-divisions very marked. This species is found in rock pools from Cape Cod to New York Bay.
C. linum. Bright green; filaments coarse, rigid, twisted together, and prostrate. It is found floating in masses and forming strata on rocks and gravel from New York northward. It is thought by some that this, as well as C. picquotiana, which it closely resembles, is not a true species, but consists of the mature plants of the species C. mela- gonium and C. area, which have become detached from their holdfasts and have continued to grow. (Plate III.)
GENUS Cladophora
("Branch-bearing ")
Frond filiform, branched. There are many species of Cla- dophora, which differ from one another in their branching, color, and size. They abound on rocks at low-water mark, in tide- pools, in muddy ditches, and on wharves. They are especially characterized by being so profusely branched as to form tufts or spherical masses, by which the collector can easily distinguish the genus.
C. arcta. Bright, glossy green ; filaments fine, erect, much branched, two to eight inches long ; tufts dense, more or less entangled, and in bunches, giving a starry effect. The species is common on rocks near low-water mark from New York northward. The plants vary slightly in appearance with the season. (Plate III.)
C. rupestris. Dark green ; filaments straight, rigid, tufted ; branches crowded ; many branchlets flattened against the filaments, so that the alga somewhat resembles grass; five to ten inches long. The cell- divisions show plainly. Plants of this species do not adhere to paper in drying. They are found on rocks at low-water mark, and are com- mon on the northern New England coast. (Plate III.)
C. gracilis. Bright yellow-green ; filaments very fine, loosely tufted, three to twelve inches long, soft, silky, much branched ; branches rather short, and branchlets more or less curved and arranged in a comb-like manner. It grows on wharves, in muddy pools, and on eel-grass. (Plate IV.)
ORDER ULVACEJE
The plants of this order are, with few exceptions, formed of celled surfaces and show the earliest type of an expanded leaf. The cells form thin membranes, which sometimes are broad sur- faces of no definite shape, sometimes are narrow and ribbon-like, or they may be simple or branched tubes. When the membrane
I'LATK III.
( Ihsetomorpha melagonium.
( 'hidophora arrta.
( Ihtetomorpha linuiu. ( 'hulophora
PLATE IV.
Cladophoi'a gracilis. Ulva lactuca, var. rigida.
Ulva lanceolata. Enteromorpha clat.hrata.
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS 55
consists of a single layer of cells it is Monostromn ("one layer ") ; when it consists of a double layer it is Vim ; when the layers separate, the thallus becomes hollow, and it is then En- tcronioi-pJia. These plants are mostly a brilliant grass-green in color, are silky in texture, and are attached by a small disk to rocks and stones. They abound everywhere, aud are commonly known as green hirer.
GENUS Viva
Frond a thin, silky, flat membrane, sometimes leaf-like, again an extended surface of no definite shape. These are the largest green algre. They are common everywhere.
I '. lactuca, the sea -lettuce. Frond a flat membrane of various shapes, sometimes orbictdar, again deeply incised, often ribbon-like ; margin always much waved or ruffled. In the variety riyida the frond is oval in outline, not very large, and quite firm or rigid. The species is found on rocks exposed to the action of the waves. (Plate IV.)
U. latissima. Frond a flat, expanded membrane of indefinite shape, but general outline oval, never ribbon-like ; attains a size of twelve to twenty-four inches; often deeply lobed, very waved, often perforated with holes ; membrane brilliant green, thin, smooth, glossy. It grows apart or in tufts, and is found everywhere, in all stages of growth. It is the largest species of Ulva, and is very common on muddy shores.
GENUS EnteromorpJia
Fronds tubular, simple or branched, sometimes inflated. The tubes vary in size in different species and also in the same spe- cies, some being fine like a hair, others large, and flat or inflated. The genus is widely distributed and very abundant. Species of Enteromot'itJia grow on the bottoms of ships, and in nautical language are called grass.
E. clftthi'fitfi. Fronds thread-like, tubular, branched, and branches beset with numerous fine branchlets ; densely tufted, soft. Common everywhere. (Plate IV.)
E. compressa. Fronds long, slender, branched, tufted ; branches simple, compressed, extending from main central branch, obtuse at ends, but attenuated at base. The species is very abundant everywhere, and is a useful plant for the aquarium. (Plate V.)
E. infest! mills. Single, long, inflated tubes or sacs, obtuse at the apex, very attenuated at the base; fronds often crimped and twisted, resembling an intestine, whence the name. (Plate V.)
56 MAEINE ALG^E
E. lanceolata. Formerly called Ulva Lima. Frond narrow, ribbon- like, six to twelve inches long, one inch to two inches wide ; blunt or pointed at apex, tapering at base ; attached by a disk ; edges much ruffled; bright green, soft, thin.
GENUS Monostroma
This genus resembles Ulva, but is more delicate since it has but one layer of cells, as its name implies. The frond is usually sac-like at first, then breaks apart, leaving a thin, semi-trans- pareiit membrane of no definite shape.
GROUP SIPHONED
The distinct and peculiar character of this group is that in each individual the whole plant consists of but one cell. There are many genera, some of which are plants of elaborate form and considerable size, but always the one cell expands and branches without dividing the elongated cavity with septa, or plates of division. In Cmderpa the stability of the plant is secured by numerous fibrils which emanate from the interior of the cell, forming a spongy network of interlacing filaments. In other orders the branches gain support from incrustation, from inter- lacing, and from cohering on the edges.
ORDER VALONIACE^l
The algae of this order are found only in tropical or subtropical waters. Their holdfasts resemble fibrous roots and penetrate the sand or coral on which they grow.
GENUS Chamcedoris
C. annnlata. When young this alga consists of an annulated tube formed of a single cell. The annular constrictions occur at short inter- vals, giving it the appearance of being jointed. It grows to the height of two to three inches, when it ceases to lengthen and produces a dense mass of filaments, forming a head or spherical tuft one inch or more in diameter. It is bright grass-green in color, rather rigid and tough, and when mature is thinly coated with carbonate of lime. The holdfast is a tuft of fibers. The species is found at Key West and is a native of the West Indies.
I'LATK V.
Enteromorpha
Enteromorpha intcstinalis.
Enteromorpha intestinalis.
Anadyomeuc HahrUata.
PLATE VI.
Acetabularia crenulata Peuicillus dumeiitosus.
Dasycladus occidentalis. Udotea cont>-lutiuata.
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS 57
GENUS AnadyoiHciie
A. flabellata. Frond composed entirely of brancning filaments, which unite and form an undulating, rigid membranaceous surface, which seems like a network of veins. The species grows in bunches on short stems in the fissures of tidal rocks, and at first view resembles young I 'Ira. It is a very curious and beautiful alga, and should be examined with a glass. It is one inch to four inches in diameter when full- grown. (Plate V.)
ORDER DASYCLADACE^:
This order also inhabits only tropical or subtropical seas. It is placed in this group, although only the main axis is unicellu- lar. The one-celled axis is surmounted or encircled by whorls of minute filaments or branchlets (raimtli), which protrude through small holes and are either persistent or deciduous. In the latter case the fallen filaments leave disk-like scars on the stem.
GENUS Acetabulat'ia
A. crentilatd. This little alga resembles a mushroom of the Af/firicns variety or gilled species, and so is easily identified. It is thinly incrusted with lime and is found on rocks and coral, within tide-marks, on the Florida reefs. When full-grown the stipe is two to three inches long and the cap one half of an inch in diameter. (Plate VI.)
GENUS Dttsycladus
Fronds destitute of calcareous matter, soft, cylindrical or club- shaped; single unicellular axis, beset with fine filaments or ramuli.
D. oc<-i<(<>nt(flift. Frond club-shaped, one to two inches high, one half of an inch or less in diameter ; covered with whorls of fine filaments, making the fronds almost spongy ; substance soft but, tough ; dark green. These plants have been compared to foxes' tails. They grow in bunches on rocks between tide-marks. (Plate VI.)
GENUS Cf/ ino/x)Ii((
C.ba/rbctta, Frond branched, dividing regularly in pairs; thickly incrusted with lime. Annular constrictions at short intervals give (lie branches the appearance of strings of beads. Each section is covered with pores or scars of fallen ramuli. The branches terminate in tufts of fine filaments.
58 MARINE ALGJE
ORDER UDOTEACE.E
GENUS Penicillus
The merman's shaving-brush, characteristic of coral reefs.
P. duinentosus. Holdfast much branched, like a fibrous root, and penetrating deep into the coral or sand ; stem short, thick, more or less flattened, sometimes hollow, covered with velvety scurf; top covered with loosely spreading tuft of soft filaments three to six inches long, which branch repeatedly in pairs (dichotornous) ; color deep green. When old, these plants are incrusted with a thin, porous layer of car- bonate of lime. (Plate VI.)
P. capitatus. Holdfast a dense mass of fibers two or more inches long; stipe one to five inches long, one fourth to one third of an inch in diameter, usually cylindrical, sometimes wider at top than at base, sometimes flattened ; thickly incrusted with lime, which is smooth and often polished; top a dense, spherical mass of filaments one to two inches in diameter ; filaments branching dichotomously, and rigid from incrustation of lime.
P. Phoenix. Stipe cylindrical, one to three inches long, one fourth of an inch in diameter, thickly incrusted with lime, smooth ; capitulum or head ovoid, and composed of filaments which are incrusted with lime and coherent, forming many distinct, flat, wedge-shaped, level-topped, spreading lamina?. This species is found at Key West.
GENUS TIdotea
U. flabellnta. Short, flattened stem, expanding into a broad, fan- shaped, smooth frond, concentrically zoned ; margin wavy ; thickly incrusted with lime. Abundant at Key West.
U. conglutinata. Deeply descending root ; stem expanding into fan- shaped frond ; entire, lobed, or irregularly torn ; slightly incrusted with lime. The frond is composed of longitudinally parallel, adherent fila- ments, which are visible, giving a striated, rough surface. (Plate VI.)
GENUS Halimeda
This genus resembles the corallines externally, and is abundant on coral reefs. It appears as if formed of separate parts, resem- bling a series of heart- or kidney-shaped segments strung together. The plants are more or less incrusted with lime. The branching holdfast grasps particles of sand, and with them forms a solid ball.
H. tuna. Articulations roundish or half kidney-shaped, one half to three quarters of an inch broad ; frond flat, smooth, and thinner than most species ; bright green ; somewhat flexible. (Plate VII.)
n
. -
>
tuna. Bryopsis pluinosa.
PLATE VII.
Ilaliincda tridciis. Codinui toineiitosiini.
PLATE VIII.
Caulerpa Mexicaiia. Caulerpa pluinaris.
Caulerpa Wurdemanii. Caulerpa paspaloides.
GRASS-GREEN SEAWEEDS 59
H. trldens. Fronds solitary, erect j base composed of confluent articulations ; above divided into numerous branches of articulations, which are all flat, and in one plane giving a fan-shaped outline ; middle joints wedge-shaped; upper ones divided into three lobes, frequently bearing articulations at the summit of each lobe ; thinly incrusted with lime ; color bright green. (Plate VII.)
H. opuntia. Articulations kidney-shaped, flat, rather thin ; margins scalloped ; irregularly branched and spreading ; dense tufts.
ORDER GENUS Bryopsis
C" Moss-like ")
There are said to be about twenty species of this genus. They are distinguished by the manner of branching, but are not very definitely marked. All are erect, one-celled, branching stalks, and are feather-like in appearance.
B. pluniosa. Fronds branched twice or more ; branchlets or pin- nules tapering as they rise on the stalk, giving a triangular outline ; stalk naked below ; plants a vivid dark green in color, two to six inches long, growing in tufts on wharves and stones at low-water mark and in tide-pools. It is common along the whole Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It is well to use salt Avater for mounting this alga, since the green color- ing-matter or granular endochrome \vith which it is filled easily escapes. (Plate VII.)
GENUS Codium
C. tomcntosum. This is called the commonest seaweed in the world. It is abundant in every latitude, yet it does not appear on the eastern coast of North America. It is found on the gulf coast of Florida and is plentiful on the Pacific coast. The fronds are often a foot long, com- posed of closely packed, club-shaped branches dividing in a forking manner, and densely covered with fine filaments which give them a soft, sponge-like texture. (Plate VII.)
ORDER CAULERPACE.S:
GENUS Cattle rpa
(From two Greek loords meaning " stein " and " creep ")
Caulerpa is the only genus of its order, but it contains about a hundred species, many of which resemble mosses, ferns, or cacti. Each plant is composed of a single cell, however much it may be
60 MARINE ALG^E
ramified. The frond consists of a prostrate stem, from the lower side of which root-like fibers or holdfasts descend into the hard sand or coral, and from the upper side leaf- and branch-like secondary fronds arise. These plants grow luxuriantly in tropi- cal waters, extending over large surfaces, and are the chief food of turtles. (Plate VIII.)
C. prolifera. Frond or lamina flat and leaf-like, two to four inches long, one half to three quarters of an inch wide, either simple or once forked ; margin entire. Similar laminae spring from the surface or from the edge or base of the different leaf -like portions. Laminae rise from the upper side of the creeping, rooting stem. Its substance is somewhat horny and translucent.
C. Mexicana. Prostrate, creeping stem, with rootlets or holdfasts below, and leaf-like fronds above ; fronds simple or with one or two branches deeply cut in narrow lobes nearly to the center. The species abounds at Key West. (Plate VIII.)
II
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS (PH^OPHYCE^E)
TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER
Class ALG2E
Subclass Phseophyceae
(Olive-Green and Brown Seaweeds) Orders Genera
ECTOCAKPACE.E J Ectocarpus
SPHACELABIACEJE
RALFSIACEJE
ENCffiLIACEJE
DESMARESTIACEJE
| Sphacelaria [_ Cladostephus Ralfsia
( Punctaria
I Asperococcus \ Phyllitis
j Desmarestia \Arthrocladia
DICTYOSIPHONACE^: Dictyosiphon ELACHISTACEJE Elachista
CHORD ARIACEJE
/ Chordaria J Mesoglcea
I Leatfiesia \Myrionema
62
Species
E. llttoralis
E. siliculosus
E. virldis
E. tomentosus cirrhosa radicans
C. verticillatus
(S.
is.
P. latifolla P. tenuissima P. plantaginea A. echinatus P. fascia
:D. viridis Z>. aculeata Z>. ligulata A. villosa
D. fceniculaceus
C. flagelliformis ( M. virescens \ M. divaricata
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS
63
Orders
LAMINAKIACEJE
DICTYOTACEJE
Genera
Chorda Atari a Agarum
Laminaria
I Macrocyslis I Nereoci/stis \ Lessonia Tli alassiophyUum
Dictyota
Zonarla Taonia Padina Haliseris
CUTLERIACE.E Cutteria
Himanthalia
Fucus
As coph i/llum Phyllospora ( 'i/sfoseira Halidrys
Sargassum
Species
C. filmn A. esculenta A. Turneri L. longicruris L. saccharina L. diyitata
D. fasciola
D. dichotoma
Z. lobata
T. atomaria
P. pavonia
H. poljipodioides
C. multifida
H. lorea
T. vesiculosus F. serratus F. furcatus
7. ceranoides A. nodosum P. Meuziesii C. expansa H. osmnnda • S. vulyare S. Montagnei S. bacciferum
OLIVE -GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS
THIS subclass contains some of the most remarkable of the seaweeds. It is especially notable for the diversity of its plant forms, which range from filaments to plants which appear to have stems and leaves (Sargassuni). The species vary in size from very small fronds to those of immense size (the Laminariacece). It in- cludes Fiicus (the rockweeds), a very conspicuous genus, which furnishes fully three fourths of the vegetable covering of the tidal rcfcks in the localities in which it grows.
ORDER ECTOCARPACE.E
This order comprises many species of branched, filamentous plants, some of which are of hair-like fineness and form beautiful feathery tufts of brownish or olive-green color. They resemble, except in their tawny color, the green alga Cladoplwra.
The name is derived from Greek words meaning "outside" and "fruit," the spores of the plants being borne on the branches.
The species are determined by the arrangement of the spores, according as they are in the pod-like branches, in groups, or in cases on stalks. Since these differences are not perceptible to the naked eye, it is impracticable to describe many species, or for the amateur collector to try to separate them.
GENUS Ectocarpus
E. littoralis. Filaments fine, in dense tufts, interwoven, six to twelve inches long ; pod linear in the substance of the branches ; color olive- green. This is tlie most common species of Ectocarpus^ and gi-ows abun- dantly everywhere, appearing like large, fine, dull-green plumes. ( Plate IX. )
64
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS 65
E. silicnlosus. Tufts loosely entangled at the base, free and feathery above, of indefinite length ; spores in pod-like forms at the ends of the branches. Common on the larger alga? and on wharves.
E. riridis. Tufts a little more loose and expanding than in E. silicu- losus; spores in pods at the base of the branches. (Plate IX.)
E. tomentosiis. Fine filaments, densely interwoven into rope-like, spongy masses, two to four inches long; yellowish-brown; pods on stalks. Found in summer growing on Fucus.
ORDER SPHACELARIACE.E GENUS Sphacelai'iu
S. cirrhosa. Olive-brown ; branched, feathery filaments, one half of an inch to two inches long. Each branch ends with an oblong, swollen cell containing a dark granular mass which gives it a withered appearance. These cells can be seen with a strong pocket-lens. It forms dense, globe- like tufts on Fucus.
S. radicans. Filaments one half of an inch to one inch high ; branches few and hairy. It forms a dense, grass-like covering, of indefinite extent, on the under side of muddy rocks. Found on the New England coast.
GENUS Cl(((Zostcp7ius
C. vert icillat its. Fronds bristle-like, dividing regularly; covered with whorls of branchlets set close to the stems, each whorl overlapping the previous one, giving the plant a spongy appearance. (Plate IX.)
ORDER RALFSIACEJE
GENUS Ralfsia
The species of this genus are brown, leathery, crustaceous expansions of indefinite form, one inch to six inches in diameter, resembling lichens. They appear on rocks in shallow, exposed pools.
ORDER ENCffiLIACEJE
GENUS Punctaria
Dotted-weeds. Fronds pale olive-green, membranaceons, leaf- like, with short stem ; covered with spores which appear like dots.
P. Ifififolia. Frond pale green, four to twelve inches long, one inch to five inches wide, leaf-like, and tapering suddenly to a short stalk: much
5
66 MARINE ALG^E
waved on margin; substance soft and thin; dotted with spores. In the young plants fine hairs emerge from the dots, but disappear later, and the fronds become darker and more rigid. Found in summer on rocks and on other algae on the Long Island and New England coasts.
.P. temiissima. Fronds smaller and more slender than in P. latifolia; thin and delicate. Found on eel-grass and Chorda filum.
.P. plantaginea. Fronds dark brown, leathery, leaf-like, blunt or wedge-shaped on top; dense clusters of hairs on the dots; six to twelve inches long, one inch to one and a half inches wide.
GENUS Asperococcus
This genus differs from Pmictaria in having a tubular instead of a flat frond. (Plate IX.)
A. echinatns. Resembles Enteromorplia in being tubular; compressed or inflated ; obtuse at the apex ; attenuated at the base. It differs from Enteromorplia in being olive in color, and in being covered with small oblong dots of darker shade. When the plant is young the dots are hairy. It grows in clusters, two to eighteen inches long, one half of an inch to one inch wide. Common along the New England coast.
GENUS Pliyllitis
P. fascia. Fronds light olive-green, leaf-like, three to six inches long, one fourth to one hah6 of an inch wide ; margin entire, slightly waved ; contracted at base to short stalk; attached by disk. This species grows in bunches on rocks and stones at low- water mark, and is very common everywhere. (Plate X.)
ORDER DESMARESTIACE.E
(Named for M. Desmarest, a French naturalist)
GENUS Deswiarestia
D. viridis. Filaments cylindrical, about as thick as a bristle ; branches opposite, in pairs, at intervals on the main stem. The branches branch again and continue to be disposed in the same manner. All are long and ultimately become very fine. The color is olive-green, becoming verdi- gris-green when exposed to the air for a short time or placed in fresh water. The species grows in deep tide-pools and below low- water mark, forming fine, feathery plumes, often a yard long, which give submerged rocks the appearance of a luxuriant garden. (Plate X.)
D. aculeata ("spiny"). Fronds cylindrical at base, flattened above; branches long and straight, arranged alternately, when young beset with pencils of fine hairs, often one half of an inch long, which, later, fall off, leaving alternate spines along the edges of the flattened branches. It
I'LATK IX.
Ectorarpus littorulis. Cladostephus verticillatus.
Ectocarpus viridis. Asperococcus bullosus.
f
PLATE X.
Phyllitis fascia. Desruarestia aculeata.
Desiuarestia viridis. Desmarestia ligulata,
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS 67
grows from one foot to six feet in length, below low-water murk, and is found washed ashore. It is an attractive plant in the spring, but is brown and coarse when old. Common everywhere. (Plate X.)
D. lifjulatd. Fronds two to six feet long, pinnate, having a flat main stem one half of an inch or more wide, with opposite flat branches; leaf- Ids arranged along the edges of the branches, pointed at each end, and bordered with forward-pointing spines. It is found washed ashore, in abundance, in California, but is not found on the Atlantic coast. ( Plate X.)
GENUS Arthrocladia
A. rillosa. Olive-brown filaments, resembling fine, knotted threads, each knob having a whorl of delicate filaments. It grows from six inches to three feet long, in deep water. It is rare, but is occasionally found on the New England coast.
ORDER DICTYOSIPHONACE.E GENUS Dictyosiphon
D. fteniculaceiis. Fronds filiform, bristle-like, branching into deli- cate, hair-like branches ; yellowish-brown. It resembles Chordaria flayel- lifarmis, but is much finer. (Plate XL)
ORDER ELACHISTACE^aE
GENUS Elachista
The plants of this genus are small, olive-colored, unbrauched, hair-like filaments, growing in dense, radiating tufts, one half of an inch in height, on Fucus. They are interesting to the micro- scopist, but not to the collector.
ORDER CHORDARIACEJE
f" Cord-like ")
GENUS Chordaria
C. flageUiformis ("whip-like"). Firm, leathery, somewhat elastic, slimy strings, six to twenty-four inches long, and twice as thick as a bristle; branches mostly undivided, short or long, irregularly placed on the main axis, and curving inward at the top of the frond; main axis not extending as far as the branches; blackish in color; attached by a disk to stones and shells ; solitary or in bunches. It is common along the New England coast. (Plate XL)
68 MARINE
GENUS Mesoglcea
M. virescens. Soft, slimy filaments, with branches and branchlets ; olive-green. (Plate XI.)
M. divaricate. Fronds two to twenty-four inches high ; branching irregularly, and generally without definite main axis ; branches flexuous, solid at first, later hollow ; branchlets short and wide-spreading. Com- mon from Cape Cod southward: abundant in Long Island Sound. (Plate XI.)
GENUS Leathesia
This singular alga resembles a tuber and cannot be mistaken for any other plant. Its fronds are gelatinous, fleshy balls, one half of an inch to two inches in diameter, at first solid, afterward lobed and hollow. It grows singly or in bunches on algaa and on sand-covered rocks, and is found in summer on every coast. The common species is known as L. difformis or L. tuberiformis.
GENUS Myrionema
Minute algas which grow on other plants and which appear like dark spots, or, at first, like stains, on Ulra, Enter omorplia, and small red algas. These spots, which to the naked eye appear like decajr, show, under the microscope, a jelly-like substance full of beaded filaments.
ORDER LAMINARIACEJE
The plants of this order have large and coarse fronds (some attaining an immense size), with stems, branching root-like hold- fasts, and expanded leaf -like laminae. They are leather-like, not articulated, olive-green or brown in color, and sometimes yellow and semi-transparent. They grow in deep water and are found washed ashore. Sometimes small plants are found in deep tide- pools at low- water mark. Some species are perennial. In these instances the stems only survive, and the laminae are repro- duced annually. The new growth takes place at the apex of the stem. The old lamina is pushed off, but is held on the summit of the new growth until the latter has matured.
In the genus Chorda the fronds are cylindrical; in Agamm
A
PLATE XI.
Dictyosiphon fu-nieulaceus. Mesogloea virescens.
( 'honlaria tla Mesogloea divaricata
-*$•.
• ~s
*%«:
Chorda filum. Agaruin Turner!.
PLATE XII.
Alaria esculenta. Laiuiiiaria saccharin;!.
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS 69
the lamiiiaa are perforated ; in Alaria there are wing-like leaflets below the laminae.
The Ltinu'nariacece and Fttcacece are the seaweeds used in making kelp. For this the alga? are burned, and the ash is then separated into its different mineral constituents and used for various manu- facturing purposes.
GENUS Chorda
C. filinn. Entire frond cylindrical, divided internally by transverse septa ; one fourth to one half of an inch in diameter, tapering at each end ; ordinarily one to twelve feet long, but sometimes attaining a length of forty feet. When young the frond is covered with tine, transparent hairs ; later it is brown and leather-like. The growth takes place at the base, just above the disk-like holdfast, and at the apex it is constantly dying off. The species is common on Northern shores, at and below low- water mark. Often it is in masses which seem like meadows of waving grass under water. Various small algiu and many zoophytes are to be found on the fronds. (Plate XII.)
GENUS Alaria
This genus is readily distinguishable by the fact that it has leaflets below the lamina. It is found north of Cape Cod.
A. esculenttt. Stem compressed, four to twelve inches long, one fourth to one half of an inch wide, and running like a midrib through the lamina ; lamina one to ten feet long, two to ten inches wide, fre- quently torn and ragged ; margin wavy ; leaflets three to eight inches long and without midrib, growing on both sides of the stem, below the lamina. The spores are produced in the leaflets in the autumn. This is an edible alga and is used as food in Scotland and Ireland, where it is called henware, badderlocks, murlins, and so on. (Plate XII.)
GENUS Af/arum The sea-colanders.
A. Tiu-neri. Stem two to twelve inches long, round below, flattened above, and extending like a midrib through the lamina ; lamina one foot to four feet long, with holes over the whole surface ; margin wavy. The perforations in the lamina are produced by conical hollow papilla? which cover the young frond and which at length burst, leaving a hole which enlarges as the plant expands. This species is found from Cape Cod to Greenland.
There are other species, which differ from this one in the size of the perforations, the shape of the lamina, and the prominence of the midrib. Harvey describes the plant as an arctic genus growing ten to twelve feet long. (Plate XII.)
70 MARINE ALGLE
GENUS Laminaria
The plants of this genus are all large, varying from one foot to twelve feet or more in length. They are of wide geographical range, and are more numerous in species than any others of the order. They are commonly known as oarweeds, tangle, devil's- aprons, sole-leather, kelp, sea-furbelows, and so on.
L. longict'uris ("long-stalked"). Stem six to twelve feet long, one to two inches thick, slender and solid at base, hollow and inflated at the middle, contracted at the top ; attached by a strong, branching, root-like holdfast ; color light brown. The large, single, leaf -like lamina, usually shorter than the stem, is five to twenty feet long, two to three feet broad, with much waved and folded margin, outlined with two rows of depressed spots. The spores form a band in the center of the blade. Found from Cape Cod northward and on the Pacific coast.
L. sacchariua, the sea-tangle. This species differs from L. longicruris in having a shoi't, solid stem and narrow, ribbon-like lamina. Stem three inches to four feet long ; lamina three to thirty feet long, six to eighteen inches wide, with central band of depressed spots ; margin much waved ; color olive-green, semi-transparent. It is named from the saccharine matter, called mannite, which it contains. Found on northern shores of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. (Plate XII.)
L. diyitata (" fingered"). Stem one to five feet long, thick, round, and solid ; lamina oval at base, leathery, smooth, brown, deeply cleft into segments of unequal breadth. It is named from the hand-like form of the lamina. This species is found in Long Island Sound, but is not common south of Cape Cod. The stem is used by fishermen for knife- handles. Pieces of it, placed on the blades while green, contract in dry- ing and become solid. (Plate XIII.)
For the genera Macrocystis, Nereocystis, Lessonia, and Tlialas-
siophyttum, see the Introduction, pages 35, 36.
ORDER DICTYOTACE^l GENUS Dictyota
D. fasciola. Fronds olive-brown, expanded, membranaceous, erect, flat ; many times forked narrow branches ; grows in tufts six to ten inches long, matted at the base.
J>. dichotoma. Same as D. fasciola, except that the divisions of the forked frond are one eighth to one half of an inch wide. Found in tide- pools in Southern waters. (Plate XIII.)
GENUS Z on aria
Z. lobata. Thallus flat, fan-shaped, but not so rounded as in Padina pavonia, twelve or more inches in height, cleft irregularly into many
PLATE XI! I.
Laminaria diintata. Taonia atomaria.
Dictyota dichotoma. 1'adina pavonia.
PLATE XIV.
Haliseris polypodioides. Cutleria multiflda.
Fucus vesiculosus.
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS 71
narrow lobes, the clefts extending nearly or quite to the base ; olive-green, with concentric zones of darker color ; edges thin and bordered with a dark line. Found in southern California and in tropical and subtropical seas.
GENUS Taottid
T. atonifiria. Spreading, fan-shaped frond ; clefts irregular and not extending to the basal stem ; spores arranged in dark wavy lines and spots on the frond, giving it a mottled appearance and beautiful grada- tion of color. Found in tropical seas. (Plate XIII.)
GENUS Padina
P. pavonia, the peacock's-tail. Frond broadly fan-shaped ; sub- stance between membranaceous and leathery ; powdery on the outer surface ; deeply and variously cleft or entire ; several lamina? emanating from a stalk-like base ; each lamina fan-shaped ; concentric lines numer- ous ; variegated in zones. This beautiful alga is always regarded as a prize. It is found on stones at low-water mark, and is not uncommon south of Charleston, South Carolina, but is more luxuriant in tropical seas. (Plate XIII.)
GENUS Haliseris The sea-endive.
H. polypodioides. Fronds flat, forked, notched on lower part ; di- visions about one quarter of an inch wide ; distinct midrib ; olive-green ; grows in tufts. It is found in North and South Carolina, and is abun- dant on the Florida Keys. (Plate XIV.)
ORDER CUTLERIACEJE GENUS Cntleria
C. multifida. Frond erect, flat ; branches in a forking manner ; ultimate branches fine and short, and with branchlets on the tips. This species resembles Taonia. It is found in Southern waters. (Plate XIV.)
ORDER FUCACEJE GENUS Him at t th a It a
If. l<n-c(t, the sea-thong. A cup-shaped base, from the center of which arises a flat, strap-like frond one fourth to one half of an inch wide and two to twenty feet long, brandling dichotomously (or by forking), and dotted with pits, or conceptacles, in which the spores are
funned. Found in llie extreme North.
72 MARINE
GENUS Fucus
The rockweeds. The plants of this genus grow in thick bunches, and are found in great abundance between tide-marks. The plants are attached by sucker-like disks to the rocks, from which they hang like fringe when the tide recedes; when it rises they float and sway in the water in beautiful bouquet-like forms. In color they are brown or olive-green, in texture thick and leathery, but they sometimes expand into thin membranes. They are many times forked in the same plane, which prodiices a flat thallus. They often have a distinct midrib. The air-vessels, whose function it is to float the plant, are disposed along the midrib, usually in pairs.
The species are named according to the divisions of the frond, and the disposition, or presence, of the air-bladders and the conceptacles, or spore-chambers.
The conceptacles congregate in particular portions of the frond and give its surface a roughness which is very perceptible ; such portions are then known as the receptacles. In Fucus this usually occurs on the bulbous extremities of the branches. Under the microscope a section of one of these little pointed spots shows a spherical cavity filled with a beautiful arrangement of paraplujseSj or threads, some of which hold spores, while others protrude through a small opening in the outer mem. brane. Conceptacles are peculiar to the order Fucacese. In them spore-production is carried on in a manner as complicated as is the formation of seeds in flowering plants. Although rockweeds are such a conspicuous feature of sea-shore vegetation, two species only, Fucus vesiculosus and Ascopliyllnm nodosum (formerly called Fucus nodosus), are common on the Atlantic coast, and these do not occur south of New York, owing to the fact that a long stretch of sand-beach extends beyond that point.
F. vesiculosus. Midrib distinct through all the forked branches ; margin entire, often wavy ; air-vessels spherical or oblong, usually in pairs along the midrib ; receptacles on terminal branches, which are swollen and filled with gelatinous matter, heart- shaped or forked, in oblong or pointed divisions ; frond tough and leathery, often two feet long. (Plate XIV.)
I 'LATE XV.
Fucus serratus. Fucus ceruuoides.
Ascopliyllum nodosum.
PLATE XVI.
Pbyllospora Meuziesii. Halidrys osruunda.
Sargassum vulgare.
OLIVE-GREEN AND BROWN SEAWEEDS 73
_F. sei't'fitHi*. Frond distinctly toothed or serrated along the margin ; midrib conspicuous through the main axis and forked branchings ; no air-vessels. This species is rare on the Atlantic coast. (Plate XV.)
F. fni'catus. Frond narrow, tough, without air-vessels; regular forked branching; midrib distinct below, inconspicuous above; recep- tacles long, narrow, not inflated. Found from Boston northward.
F. ceranoides. Frond flat, rather membranaceous, or less leathery than in the preceding species; repeatedly forked; midrib not running through every division ; no air-vessels. (Plate XV.)
GENUS Ascophyllum
A. nodosutn. This species, formerly called Fucus nodosus, is next to Fucus resiculosus the most common rockweed. Frond one to five feet long, dark brown, strap-like, leathery ; width of main stems one fourth of an inch or more, and uniform throughout ; large, single, oblong air- vessels distend the frond at intervals. Branches of various length emerge from the sides of the main stem. Ovoid or ellipsoidal branchlets or receptacles, single or in groups, occur at intervals along the sides of both stem and branches. These fall off after a time and are found in quantities in tide-pools. (Plate XV.)
GENUS Phyllospora
F. Menziesii. Branching holdfast ; short stem which immediately divides into strap-like branches ; branches edged with leaves varying in length, rounded at top, narrow, stalked at base ; leaves placed at intervals, or crowded together, and interspersed with air- vessels which are often tipped with leaflets ; stems expand at summit into leaf-like lamina? and are edged with leaflets at the base ; plant often one hundred and twenty feet or more in length; tough and leathery in substance. Very common on the California coast. (Plate XVI.)
GENUS Cystoseira
C. expansa. Frond long, slender, repeatedly branched ; air-vessels ellipsoidal and "chained" together in the lower half of the branches. The plant grows in deep water, and shows iridescent colors when seen through the water. It is found on the California coast.
GENUS Hftlidrys
If. ostn if ml ft, the sea-oak. Frond flat, alternately toothed or indented below; branched apex, bearing air-vcssds like long-stalked pods; sub- stance leathery. Found on the coast of southern California. (Plate XVI.)
GENUS 8(trf/asstfin
Sai'f/assuin is distinguished by its differentiation into stem and leaf, resembling in outward appearance the higher plants. It
74 MARINE ALG^E
is a tropical and subtropical genus, and has one hundred and fifty species. Two of these, 8. vulgare and 8. Montagnei, are found as far north as Cape Cod. See Introduction, page 34.
S. vulgare. Stems cylindrical ; branches alternate ; leaves long, narrow, toothed, with short stalk and midrib ; minute dark spots on its surface ; air-vessels small bails resembling berries set on stalks and usually tipped with a long point ; receptacles small, twig-like forms in the axils of the leaves ; color olive-brown ; plant one foot to three or more feet long. Common in Long Island Sound. (Plate XVI.)
S. Montagnei. This species resembles S. vulgare, but is more slender in all its parts, and the receptacles are more elongated. From south of Cape Cod.
S. bacciferum. Particular interest attaches to this species from the fact that it is the one which forms the floating vegetation of the Sargasso Sea. It grows attached on the Florida Keys and in the West Indies. Specimens are sometimes carried by the currents northward, and are found washed ashore. It differs from S. vulgare in the leaves, which are thicker, more attenuated, and sharply toothed, and in having a greater number of air-vessels. A branch of this species brought, from the Sargasso Sea had air-vessels so numerous and closely set that it resembled a bunch of small grapes.
Ill
RED SEAWEEDS (RHODOPHYCE^E OR FLORIDE.E)
TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE RED SEAWEEDS DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER
Class ALG^E
Subclass Rhodophyceae or Florideae
Orders Suborders
NEMALIONACE.E
(Red Seaweeds) Genera
HELMINTHOCLADIEJE
( Nemalion 1 lAagora CH.ETANGiE.ffi: Scinaia Gelidium
GELIDIE-ffi:
GIGARTINACEJE
Chondrus Gigartina
Phyllophora
Sternogramme Gymn ogon grus
Ahnfeldtia Callophyllis
i
76
Species
N. multifidum
S. furcellata G. corneutn
C. crispus . •mamillosa
G. radula
G. spinosa -G. microphylla
P. membrani folia k P. Brodicei
S. interrupta G. Norvegicus
A. plica fa C. rariegata C. laciniata
RED SEAWEEDS
77
Orders Suborders
RHODOPHYILIDEffi
RHODYMENIACE^:
Genera
Cystoclonuun
Enthora Rhodoph i/llis
Rhabdouia E lichen in a
( Gracilaria \ Hypnea ( Rhodi/menia I Lotnentaria
RHODYMENIE.E <, Chtttnpia
1 CJii/locladia [ Plocamiinn
Nitoph yll tun DELE88ERIEJE <| Grinnellia Delesseria
/
Polysiphonia
RHODOMELE^:
Laurencia
Bostri/chia Ithodoinela
Choudria
Species
C. jtui'pn rascens C. cirrhosa E. cristata It. veprecula It. ten era R. Coulteri E. is i forme
G. multipart ita H. muscifonn is K. pal mat a L. Baileuana C. parrnltt
C. articulata P. coccinemn N. laceratum
N~. Ruprechteanum N. pnnctatnm G. Americana
D. siniiosa D. alata
D. Leprieurii P. fastigiata P. nigrescens P. parasitica P. dendrotdea P. Bailey i P. Harvey I P. OfiH'i/i P. Jibrillosa P. violacea P. nrceolata Var. formosa P. i'<n-ie<jata \ P. Wood ii L.
J>. plumosa
B. I'inilaris 'R. snbfnsca
R. Roe hi i It. larix ^R. C.
C. tennissima C. striolata
78 MARINE ALG^E
Orders Suborders Genera
Callithamnion
Grijfithsia Ptilota
OERAMIEJE
Ceramium
Microcladia
\
CKYPTONEMIACEJE
GLOIOSIPHONIE^; Gloiosiphonia
C Halymenia GRATELOTJPIEJE I Grateloiipia
[Prionitis
DUMONTIEJE -! __
( Halosaccton
RHIZOPHYLIIDEJE Poll/ides
( Peyssonnelia Petrocelis
I Hildenbrandtia Corallina
CORAIIINEJE
BAN6IACE2:
Bangia Porphyra
Species
C. americanum
C. Pylaiscei
C. Baileyi
C. seirospermmn
C. byssoidcum
C. floccostitn
G. Bornetiana
P. serrata
P. elet/ans
P. densa
P. hypnoides
S. filament osa
C. rubrum
Var. prolifertim
Var. secundatum
C. strictum
C. diaphanum
C. fastigiatuni
C. tenuissimunt
Var. patentiftsitnmn
M. Coulteri
M. borealis
G. capillaris
H. liffulata G. Cutleria P. lanceolata P. Andersonii P. Cdlifornica H. ramentaceum
P. rotundus
P. Dubyi P. cruenta H. rosea
C. officinalis
B. fusco-purpurea P. vulgaris P. laciniata
RED SEAWEEDS
IN Rhodophyceae, known also as Florideae and Rhodospermese, alga? attain their highest development. This is marked by the mode of reproduction, which, more nearly than in the other subclasses, resembles that of flowering plants. The fronds, how- ever, are not as large and do not as closely resemble stem and leaf as do some species of the brown algae.
The species of this subclass are very numerous, and the variety in their fronds, their delicate texture, and their colors, which vary from pink to purple, make them the most attractive of the sea- weeds. They grow mostly in deep water, but are often found washed ashore, and many grow just below low-water mark and on the shady side of tide-pools.
In the simplest species the frond consists of branched cell-rows. In some of these the filaments are so fine that a pocket-lens is re- quired to determine the- differences in branching and fully to appreciate the beauty of the plant (CalUthamnion). Some have a cell-surface. In Delesseria the membrane assumes the outline of a foliage-leaf. Dasya, which is an abundant variety, is especially beautiful in its feather-like appearance. The corallines are sin- gular in that they are incrusted with lime and resemble corals.
ORDER NEMALIONACEJE SUBORDER HELMINTHOCLADIE.E
GENUS Neniftfion The threadweeds.
N. multi/idnni. Frond six to twelve inches long, cylindrical, solid, cord-like, elastic, tough, shiny, very gelatinous; branches repeatedly in
79
80 MARINE ALG.E
a wide-forking manner; sometimes a branch will divide into several parts at the same point ; color dark brown or purple. It is found, in summer only, from Long Island Sound northward, growing on smooth rocks which are exposed to the action of the waves.
GENUS Liayora
Fronds filamentous ; branching regularly in a forking manner to the very top, forming thick bunches ; slightly incrusted with lime, yet somewhat viscid. It is found in Florida and California, and abounds in tropical waters.
SUBORDER CHJETANGIEJE GENUS Scinaia
S. furcellata. Frond cylindrical, one eighth of an inch in diameter, tapering at base, sometimes constricted at intervals, regularly and sev- eral times forked, ending in short divisions; branches of same length, giving a level top ; two to four inches high ; lake-red. When pressed the axis is visible, giving the appearance of a flat frond with a midrib. This species is found in summer only, washed ashore from Cape Co<I southward and on the California coast. It is not common. (Plate XVII.)
SUBORDER GELIDIEJE GENUS Gelidium
G. corneum. Frond flat and horny, one inch to four inches high, narrow, erect, branched several times in the same plane ; ultimate branchlets club-shaped, or swollen at the tips with masses of spores; color purple-red. It grows in tufts on mud-covered rocks, and on algae at low-water mark. The typical form is found in Florida and on the Pacific coast. Smaller plants are found all along the Atlantic shore. It is an extremely variable plant, and is often difficult to distinguish on this account. (Plate XVII.)
ORDER GIGARTINACEJE
GENUS Chondrus Carrageen or Irish moss.
C. crispus. Frond begins with flattened stem, which divides and subdivides many times in a broad-forked, fan-like manner; varies greatly in length and breadth of divisions, also in size and color, accord- ing to conditions of its habitation. In shallow tide-pools it is pale and
9
PLATE XVII.
Sciiiiiia furcellata. < Jfliiliuni Coulteri.
Uelidium corncinn. Chondrus crispus.
>
PLATE XVIII.
Gigartina mamillosa. Gigartina spinosa.
Gigartina radula. Gigartina microphylla.
RED SEAWEEDS 81
stunted ; but under the shelter of rocks, in deep water, it grows in dense masses and is a dark purplish-red or reddish-green. Often it appears iridescent when seen through the water, with the sun shining on it. It is firm and leathery in substance. It is an edible alga, and was formerly very generally used for culinary purposes. At Hiugham, Massachusetts, large quantities are gathered asan article of commerce. It is a beautiful and very common plant found from New York northward. ( Plate XVII.)
GENUS Gif/ai'tina
Of the species of this genus but one is found on the eastern coast ; on the Pacific coast there are several, and they are large and conspicuous.
G. tttinnillosa. Frond three to six inches high, one inch to two inches broad, flat, leathery, gelatinous ; forking near the base, then divid- ing and subdividing in the same plane ; segments more or less wedge- shaped and with a tendency to roll inward; covered with numerous small nipple-like protuberances which contain the spores. These pro- jections distinguish this genus from Chondrus, which it otherwise resem- bles, and with which it grows. The color is dark purple. It is found from Boston northward. (Plate XVIII.)
G. radulfi. Frond flat and thick ; rising from a short stem and widening to several inches ; sometimes tapering to the top, sometimes blunt or divided, sometimes cleft on the sides, but usually simple ; cov- ered with wart-like projections ; color dark, livid red. It is found on the Pacific coast at all seasons, growing on rocks between tide-marks. Large specimens are one foot to three feet long aird six to ten inches wide. (Plate XVIII.)
G. ajtinostt ('' thorny "). Frond thick, leathery ; surface rough and spiny ; form variable, the divisions sometimes emanating from a broad, flattened base, or again branching from a main axis ; all covered with the protruding processes peculiar to the genus; color dark red, brown, or purple. It is found on the California coast. (Plate XVIII.)
G. min-oft/ii/Ild (" small-leaved"). Plant rises from short, flat stem, and rapidly expands into a flat, wide, thin frond which is simple or divided into two or three segments, each of which tapers into a long, pointed apex ; thickly covered with long, slender spines, and on its edges bearing small, thin leaflets ; color brownish-red. It is abundant on the California coast. (Plate XVIII.)
GENUS Phyllophot'a
LeatVeed. Fronds cylindrical ; branched stalks which expand into rigid, menibranaceous, simple or cleft, wedge-shaped lamina1 ; lamina' bear leaflets on their edges or on their surface ; spores in masses form projections on the surface, or are on stalks at the summit ; color dark red. Found washed ashore from New York northward.
82 MARINE ALG^E
P. membranifolia. Several stems rise from same disk; branches expand into wedge-shaped, cleft or forked laminae ; lobes bear on the summit other laminae or leaflets divided in the same manner.
P. Brodkei. Stem less branched and leaf-expansions broader and larger than in P. membranifolia; laminse wedge-shaped and deeplv lobed. (Plate XIX.)
GENUS Sternogramme
S. interrupta. Frond a thin membrane repeatedly forked, widely spreading, divisions one fourth to one half of an inch wide; fertile plants have the spores arranged in an interrupted line through the center of the segments resembling a midrib ; frond two to eight inches high ; bright red. It is found on the California coast. The illustration shows a plant on which the hydroid Sertularia pumila is growing. (Plate XIX.)
GENUS Gymnogongrus
G. Norregicus. Frond two to four inches high, thin but leathery in substance, flat, narrow, divided in a regular forking manner ; spreading ends of terminal forks obtuse ; axils rounded ; spores form spherical masses in the upper segments, and project on both sides like hemi- spheres. It resembles a simple form of Chondrus crisjms, but is more delicate. The color is red or purple. This species is found in deep tide-pools from New York northward. (Plate XIX.)
GENUS ATtnfeldtia
A. plicata. Frond coarse, stem-like filaments, stiff, wiry, irregularly and profusely branched; sometimes regularly forked and upper seg- ments equal ; entangled ; six to eight inches long ; tufts several inches in diameter; dark purple or black. Specimens long exposed on the beach are faded to white. It is very common from New York north- ward. (Plate XIX.)
GENUS Callophyllis
C. rariegatn. Deeply cleft, wide-spreading, flat, membranaceous frond ; all parts notched more or less angularly ; color dark to bright red ; spores form hemispherical warts on surface. Some varieties differ from this one in having long and narrow, and others in having short and broad segments. It is a beautiful and common alga on the Pacific coast, resembling Euthora of the eastern coast. (Plate XX.)
C. laciniata. Frond deeply cleft ; segments wedge-shaped. It is found on the Pacific coast. (Plate XX.)
GENUS Iridcea
Frond rises from stalk and widens into a flat, thick, leathery, oval expansion, one to two feet long, and one to three inches broad ;
';
JT
PLATE XIX.
Phyllophora Hrndiaei. Gymnogongrus Norvegicus.
Sternofjrranmu' intcTrupta. Abiit'eldtia plicata.
PLATE XX.
Callophyllis variegata. Iridsea.
Callophyllis laciniata. Cystoclcmiuru cirrhosa.
RED SEAWEEDS 83
simple or lobed ; surface sometimes roughened by collections of spores in dots ; dark red, often glittering in the water with blue and purple tints. It is found on the Pacific coast. (Plate XX.)
SUBORDER RHODOPHYLLIDEJE GENUS Cystoclonium
C. 'pui'imrti-scens. The translucent, fleshy, juicy main stem, one eighth of an inch or less in diameter, runs through the whole plant ; irregularly branched all around main stem ; branches again branch in same manner; branches attenuated at the base, and taper to a long point ; smaller branches distended in places by spores into bladder-like swellings, hence the name ; color rose-red to dark purple ; plants ex- posed on the beach often faded to orange and white ; six to eighteen inches long. It grows on rocks between tide-marks as well as in deep water. With the exception of Ceramium rubrunt, this is the most com- mon red alga on the eastern coast from New York northward. It differs from Khabdonia in having bladdery branches; otherwise it is easily mistaken for it.
C.cirrhosa. Ends of branches terminate in spirals like tendrils; otherwise identical with C. piirpuruscens. (Plate XX.)
GENUS E'Uthora
E. cristata. Frond one inch to five inches high, membranaceous, broadly spreading ; divisions wide and numerous, ultimately becoming fine like minute branehlets, each one of which, under a glass, shows a notch in the tip. This beautiful, bright-red alga is found in abundance north of Capo Cod. It differs from Delesseria alata in having no midrib or veins. It grows in deep water on stones, shells, and algae. ( Plate XXI.)
GENUS Mhodophyllis
{"' llOKI/ ll'ltf ")
R. ri'preciila. Frond two to five inches long, one fourth of an inch to one and one half inches broad, membrunaceous, forked ; margin cov- ered with leaflets which are in turn edged with minute branehlets ; color deep red. It is found on the northern New England coast. (Plate XXI.)
GENUS
(•' A
7?. tenera. Frond six to eighteen inches long, cylindrical, fleshy. translucent, juicy ; irreguhirly ;iml profusely branched, branches long- est at the base, erect, tapering at both ends, numerous ]>r;mrldets ; some- times the main stem runs through the plant, sometimes it is lost in the
84 MARINE ALG.E
branching ; spore-masses sometimes form knotty bunches on the side of branches. It resembles a large Cystodonium purpurascens. It is charac- teristic of Long Island Sound, and is not found north of Cape Cod, but common from there southward along the whole Atlantic coast. (Plate XXI.)
M. Conlterl. This species is common on the Pacific coast, and dif- fers from H. tenera in having a more pronounced leading stem, and branches shorter and crowded at the top of the frond.
GENUS Euchemna
E. isiforme. Frond grows in tufts a foot or more in diameter ; stems branch in all directions from a central point, and taper gradually to the end ; secondary branches spread to all sides ; all branches swollen at intervals and armed with several spines spreading from a conical base ; color dark red, becoming on exposure orange or yellow, and at length semi-transparent and horn-like ; substance firmly cartilaginous. Abun- dant at Key West.
ORDER RHODYMENIACE.E
SUBORDER SPHJEROCOCCEJE
GENUS G-racilaria
O. wmltipartita ("many times divided"). Frond four to twelve inches long ; starting from a short, cylindrical stem, it flattens and broadens as it rises, dividing in an irregular, forking manner, or cleft into palmate segments which broaden as they rise, and which divide in the same manner ; often cleft or branched on the edges ; conical spore- masses scattered over the frond during July and August ; dingy purple in color. The plant is variable and sometimes is difficult to determine. It is common from Cape Cod southward. A narrow variety is most abun- dant in Long Island Sound. In Florida and on the California coast there are broad varieties which may be mistaken for Bhodymenia. (Plate XXI.)
GENUS Hypnea
H. mnsciformis ("moss-like"). Frond six to twelve inches long; main stem, running through, thick below and tapering to the size of a bristle ; much and irregularly branched, especially at the base ; branches wide-spreading in every direction, and longest at the base ; branches branch again in the same manner ; all parts beset with short, horizontal spines ; color purplish-red. A characteristic feature, by which the plant can easily be distinguished, is that the ends of the long branches are naked and are turned over like a hook, or nearly twisted. It is found washed ashore, often in large, intricately twisted tufts, from Cape Cod southward and on the Pacific coast.
I 'LATE XXI.
Kiitliora rrist:it;i. Kh;il)<lonia teiR-ra.
lu'liixliipli yllis vcjirt'cula ( iriicilaria inultipartita.
PLATE XXII.
Rhodytnenia palmata. Loruentaria Baileyana.
Rhodymenia palmata. Chylocladia articulata.
RED SEAWEEDS 85
SUBORDER KHODYMENIEJE
GENTS
It. pfdinatft (•' hand-shaped "). The plant commonly known as dulse. Frond rises from a disk in a short cylindrical stem which spreads into a thin, broad, fan-shaped membrane six to twelve inches long and four to eight inches wide at the top ; deeply and irregularly cleft into many wedge-shaped segments ; margin usually entire, but often with leaflets ; ends of segments indented, showing where divisions will ultimately occur ; color dark purplish-red. It grows on rocks and on alga? below low-water mark, and is common on the New England and California coasts. This is an edible alga, and, like CJwndnts crispus, is an article of food in seaports. (Plate XXII.)
GENUS Lomentaria
L. Bftilfi/ftna. Fronds two to five inches high; grows in tufts; filaments tubular, irregularly branched ; branchlets often all on one side ; branches and brauchlets curved or arched, and tapered at both ends ; color brownish-red. It is found washed ashore from Cape Cod southward. (Plate XXII.)
GENUS Clt (finj> la
C. part'iila. Frond two to six inches long, irregularly branched ; grows in tufts ; filaments hollow and constricted, so that they appear somewhat like a string of beads ; color brownish-purple. It is found washed ashore from Cape Cod southward. (Plate XXIII.)
GENUS Chylocladia
C. artictilatft. Frond filamentous, three to twelve inches long, hollow, constricted at intervals ; branches emanate from constricted joints ; has the appearance of a series of pink, delicate, oval sacs. (Plate XXII.)
GENUS Plocamium
P. cocci it rum ("scarlet"). Frond a flat, semi-cartilaginous main stein one eighth of an inch, or less, wide, three to eight inches long, with alternate branches of unequal length emanating from the edges ; branches have alternate branchlets arranged in groups of three or Cum- in a row ; branchlets have pinnuhe on the upper side, like the teeth of a comb (Iliis peculiarity in branching makes the genus easy to identify) ; color dark lake-red. It is 7iot found on the eastern coast, but is plenti- ful in California. (Plate XXIII.)
S I ' I50RDER DELESSERIEJE GENUS
N. laceratum. Frond expands from narrow base and divides almosl
at once into long, narrow, strap-shaped segments ; minute leaflets, show-
86 MARINE
ing a dot or spore-cluster, occur at intervals on the margin ; plant six to eight inches long ; thin and silky in texture. Abundant on the Cali- fornia coast. (Plate XXIII.)
JV. Ruprechteantnu. Frond one foot to two feet long, spreading from narrow base and dividing by forking into deep-cut, broad, strap- like lobes; top divisions rounded ; traversed lengthwise by parallel veins; margin of the older parts bordered with a narrow frill of thin ruffled membrane which sometimes extends also over parts of the surface of the frond ; substance somewhat rigid ; color dark red to purple. It is found on the California coast. (Plate XXIV.)
N. punctatutn. Frond six to twenty inches long and of the same width, dividing in a forking manner ; crowded at top ; when in fruit, covered with dark dots ; substatice thin and silky ; color rose-pink. It is found on the California coast. (Plate XXIV.)
GENUS Grinnellia
(Named for Mr. Henry Grinnell of Neiv York)
G. Americana. Frond a delicate membrane, rose-red or purplish in color, leaf-shaped, four to eight inches long, one inch to four inches wide, tapering at both ends ; margin entire, but much waved ; a line of darker color through the center resembles a midrib ; masses of spores form dots or specks irregularly over the whole surface ; grows from a disk and short slender stem in bunches on shells and stones in deep water. It is found washed ashore from Cape Cod southward, and is luxuriant in New York Bay, where it can be found at any season, but is in perfection in August. (Plate XXIV.)
GENUS Delesseria
D. simiosa. Delicate, leaf -like membrane, with midrib and veins, much indented and resembling in general outline an oak-leaf ; four to eight inches long, two to four inches broad; short stem; color dark red, often necked with green. It grows in bunches in deep water, and is easily distinguished, since it is the only alga having a midrib and veins, and resembling the leaf of a tree. It is found washed ashore from Cape Cod northward. (Plate XXIV.)
D. (data ("winged"). Frond rises from short stem, which flattens and divides irregularly into many branches and appears like a midrib, all bordered with narrow membrane one eighth of an inch to one inch wide ; frond two to four inches long ; color light red or pink. It is found on the shore from Cape Cod northward. (Plate XXV.)
D. LeprietiriL Frond one inch to two inches long, very narrow, with delicate midrib, forked, constricted at intervals ; branches start from constricted points ; thin and delicate ; color purple. It is found in tidal rivers near New York, and is common on the southern coast. (Plate XXV.)
SUBORDER BHODOMELEJE
The genera included in this suborder are easily distinguished when in fruit by the spore-cases, or cystocarps, which appear
PLATE XXIII.
( 'liampia parviila. Plocaurium cocciiieuiii.
('liainpia parvula. iiia^iiilinl. NitopLylluin laceratuiii.
-
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PLATE XXIV.
Nitophyllum Ruprecliteanum. Grinnellia americana.
Nitophyllum puuctatum. Delesseria sinuosa.
1M,ATK XXV.
hi-lrssrria :il:it;i
Polysipkonia fastiyiata (on Ascophylhmi).
I )rlcsscri;i Li'pricurii Polysiphonia
PLATE XXVI.
Polysiphouia dendroidea. Polysiphouia Harveyi.
Polysiphouia dendroidea. a piece magnified. Polysiphouia Harveyi. a piece magnified.
RED SEAWEEDS 87
like little balls, either adherent to the branches, or raised on short stalks. It is the largest group, and contains many of the most beautiful of the red algae.
GENUS Polysiphonia
(" Many tubes ")
A filament of Polysivhonia appears, when seen under the mi- croscope, like a bundle of filaments made up of a central tube, or axis, surrounded by a number of other tubes. It is by the number of these parts, called siphons, wtyich vary in number from four to twenty, that the species is determined. In some plants the siphons are surrounded by a layer of cells, called corticating or bark cells, which give the filaments a solid, uniform appearance. In others the siphons are naked, and the filaments then seem striped or banded with color. It is difficult, without a micro- scope, to be sure of the classification. There are, however, other characteristics which separate many of the species, and some of these are described below. Two hundred species of PoJi/si]iIi<>ni<i have been named by algologists. The plants are plentiful on all shores, especially in warm, shallow waters. Some species are per- ennial, but most of them are annuals and disappear in winter.
P. fnsf if/it ltd. This species grows on Ascophylltm nodosum in a globular tuft, and appears like a dark-brown ball, one inch to three inches in diameter. The frond is a dense mass of rigid filaments branch- ing many times in a forking manner and at broad angles. The ends are of nearly equal length, giving the plant a spherical shape. It is common from New York northward at all seasons, and is easily recognized by its general form and place of growth. Egg-shaped cystocarps, or spore- cascs, occur in the ends of the terminal filaments. (Plate XXV.)
P. nif/t'escens. Frond three to twelve inches long, rigid below, soft above ; main stem thick as a bristle, but not always easy to distinguish • brandies alternate and densely branched at the ends ; siphons twelve to sixteen in number ; filaments banded ; color black or very dark brown. (Plate XXV II.)
P. parasitica. Frond one inch to three inches long; branched in a pinnate or feather-like manner ; filaments flat ; all brand 10 andbranchlets emanating from the nitres ;md on the same plane, giving a flat frond j color reddish-brown; resembles a fine Ptilota plumosa; rystor;irps on short stalks. It is found on the California coast. (Plate XXV. )
P. flcmlroirtcd. This is a variety of the species /'. fitintxitini. Frond four to five indies long; main brandies placed at irregular intervals, but the secondary branches at regular intervals ami alternate ; branches
88 MARINE
set at acute angles, giving the plant a slender appearance ; color black or dark brown. It is common on the California coast. (Plate XXVI.)
P. Bailey i. Frond three to six inches high, flat ; branches emanate from edges of the flat stems ; main branches wide-spreading and irregularly placed, secondary branches regular and alternate ; branchlets one eighth to one half of an inch long, covered on the edges and around the top with incurved rarnuli ; branchlets broken off near the base of the branches in mature plants ; branchlets usually uniform in length, but occasionally one is longer and branches like the primary stem ; color black. Common on the California coast.
P. Harveyi. Frond two to six inches high ; grows in globose tufts, and has a bushy aspect ; branches stiff and wide-spreading ; stems and branches beset with simple or branched spine-like branchlets ; color dark brown, or black when dry ; does not collapse when taken from the water ; cystocarps on short stalks ; siphons four in number. It grows on eel-grass and algse, and is common in Long Island Sound and north- ward. Called locally niygerhair. (Plate XXVI.)
-P. Olneyi (dough-balls). Fronds two to five inches high, densely tufted ; soft filaments of hair-like fineness, much branched, and spread- ing ; when in fruit covered with tiny balls or cystocarps j siphons four in number. It is common from Cape Cod to New York.
P. fibrillosa. Frond four to ten inches high, rather robust below; main stem quickly lost in a number of prominent stems and spreading branches ; irregularly and profusely branched, becoming ultimately very fine ; numerous branchlets covered with colorless fibrils in hairy tufts, Avhich give it a misty appearance ; fibrils so delicate that they do not show well in dried specimens, but a distinct feature by which to recog- nize the species in the young plant; color light to dark brown; cysto- carps adherent to branchlets or on short stalks ; siphons four in number ; main branches only corticated. It is common in summer on stones and on eel-grass, at low-water mark, from Cape Cod to New York. (Plate XXVII.)
P. riolacea. Fronds six to twenty-four inches high, pyramidal in general outline ; main axis with long, wide-spreading branches at the base ; branches rather robust and naked below, but numerous and be- coming very fine and tufted at top ; cystocarps adherent or on short stalks ; siphons four in number ; main stems corticated ; ultimate branchlets show articulations ; color brownish-red. It is common from New York northward. ( Plate XXVII. )
P. nrceolata. Frond three to ten inches high ; main stem bristle- like ; branches naked below, divided and subdivided above ; branches with short branchlets set at a wide angle and often recurved ; siphons four in number ; shows articulations ; color deep red. Name refers to cystocarp, which resembles a pitcher. The plant grows in loose tufts, and is common from New York northward and on the California coast.
Variety fomtosa. Filaments soft and finer than in P. urceolata ; branches long and flexuous ; articulations five to ten times longer than broad ; color bright red. It grows in tufts sometimes a foot long, and is found only in the spring.
P. variegata. Fronds four to ten inches high ; filaments thick as a bristle below, and branched in a forking manner to the very top ; divided at long intervals below, at the top becoming of hair-like fineness
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i'LATE XXVI I
ni^resceus. Polysiphoiiia violucea.
I'olysiplioiiiii tilu-illiisa. Polysipbonia Woodii.
PLATE XXVIII.
Laureucia pinnatifida. Dasya plumosa.
Dasya elegaus.
Dasya plumosa, magnified.
RED SEAWEEDS 89
and dividing rapidly, forming a densely tufted mass, which collapses when taken from the water ; color purple-brown ; when mounted, silky in appearance ; filaments banded ; siphons six in number. It forms purple tufts on woodwork and on eel-grass from Cape Cod southward.
P. Woodii. Fronds four to six inches high ; branches flat, long, wide-spreading, emanating from the edges in one plane ; younger branches show articulations ; ultimate branchlets inclined to curve in- ward ; color light brown. Found on the California coast. (Plate XXVII.)
GENUS Laurencia
L.plnnatifida. Frond flat, thick, leathery ; main stem with oppo- site, or alternate, branches of about the same size and character as itself ; all pinnatifid, or cut on the edges into branchlets, some of which are again divided ; color bright purple, often unevenly faded. It is found on the Pacific coast. (Plate XXVIII.)
GENUS Dasya Chenille-weed.
D. elegans. Fronds from six inches to three yards long ; main stem and branches cylindrical, and all densely clothed with a fine, hair-like fringe, which gives the plant the appearance of chenille ; cystocarps on stalks along the branches ; color pink or lake-red. Out of water it seems like a mass of purple jelly. It is found at or just below low-water mark from Cape Cod southward, and is very plentiful in New York Bay. (Plate XXVIII.)
D. plnmosa. A species found on the California coast. The fringe covering the stems consists of minute leaflets instead of hairs, as in D. eliytn,*. (Plate XXVIII.)
GENUS Hostrychia
B. ririilai'is. Fronds one inch high ; color dark purple ; branches fine and irregularly bent. It grows where the water is not very salt, and is found in patches 011 submerged logs near New York. Common from Charleston, South Carolina, southward. (Plate XXIX.)
GENUS It/i off oniela
It. eubfu&ca. Frond six to eighteen inches long; main stem cylin- drical, and branching widely on all sides; branches longest al base and gradually shortening to the top of the stem ; branches naked below, but at the ends profusely branched, forming tufts of branrlilets. It is a perennial plant, and changes in aspect with the season. Wlien mature it is stiff and coarse, and when dry it is quite black. Common from New York northward.
It. Kocliei. This species resembles ill form 7i'. snbfn*cn, but is much finer and more delicate. In spring it is a soft, line, feathery, and beau-
90 MARINE
tiful alga of a red-brown color. It is found washed ashore, or in deep tide-pools, south of Cape Cod. (Plate XXIX.)
R. larix. Frond cylindrical, robust, six to fourteen inches high ; branches of unequal length standing out horizontally all around the main stem ; clusters of branchlets growing spirally around stem and branches. Found on the northern California coast. (Plate XXIX.)
H. floccosa. Frond four to ten inches high ; less robust than E. larix ; stem and branches flat and divided in one plane ; branches alter- nate ; ultimate branchlets somewhat incurved ; color black. In fertile plants the terminal branchlets are gathered in a mass. Found on the California coast. (Plate XXIX.)
GENUS Chondria
Plants of this genus are distinguished by having the ultimate branches attenuated at the base.
C. dasyphylla. Frond four to eight inches high ; general outline pyramidal; branches alternate on main stem; stem and branches cov- ered with short, club-shaped (blunt at top, attenuated at base) branch- lets ; cystocarps, or spore-cases, adherent to branchlets or on short stalks ; color light or dull brown. It grows in tufts, and is common from New York to Cape Cod. (Plate XXX.)
C. tenuissima. This species is similar to C. dasyphylla, but is more slender, and the brauchlets taper at both ends instead of being club- shaped.
C. striolata. A species similar to C. tenuissima. The branchlets bear secondary branchlets, and the cystocarps are on short stalks. It is plentiful in Long Island Sound.
SUBORDER CERAMIEJE
GENUS Callithamnion
These are very beautiful and delicate plants, growing in small, soft, silky tufts, bright red in color, with darker dots along the much-branched filaments. There are many species, and they are common on the northern shores of both oceans ; but the different species are not easy to distinguish with the naked eye, and so but a few of them are described below. The special characteristics by which the genus may be recognized are : fronds filamentous, of cobweb fineness, one inch to six inches long, much branched, and closely crowded at the top ; brilliant red color.
C. americanum. Frond three to six inches long, densely tufted ; filaments of extreme fineness ; main branches alternate ; much branched ; main and secondary branches have pairs of branched ramuli along the
,
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PLATE XXIX.
Bostrychia rivularis. Rhodomehi lurix.
Rhodomela
Rhodomela Hoc-cosa.
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PLATE XXX.
Chondria dasyphylla. Callithamnion Pylaissei.
Callithamnion americanum. Callithamnion Pylaissei, a piece magnified.
RED SEAWEEDS 91
brandies; color rose-pink. It grows on wharves and on alga? below low- water mark, and is a common and beautiful species. It is found (but only in the spring) from New York northward, and is abundant in Long Island Sound. (Plates XXX, XXXI.)
C. I'l/fttisti'i. Fronds three to six inches long, more robust and darker in color than in C. Anicri/'tiiium ; main and secondary branches alternate, decompound, all bearing at short intervals short opposite braucblets, which in turn are covered with ramuli. It is found in spring on wharves and on alga- from Boston northward. (Plate XXX.)
C. liuilei/i. Fronds one inch to three inches long, with main stem as thick as a bristle, and running to the top of the frond; branches around the main stem longer at the base than at the apex, giving the plant a pyramidal outline ; branches also have a main stem and short branches beset with branchlet s ; shrub-like in aspect ; color purplish-red. Com- mon in summer from New York to Cape Cod.
C. seirospei-ntKHi. Frond two to five inches high, pyramidal in out- line ; has main stem and alternate lateral branches ; branches have secondary branches beset with delicate, erect branchlets ; hair-like in fineness. It is common from Cape Cod southward, and is plentiful in Long Island Sound. (Plate XXXI.)
C. byssoideitni. Fronds one inch to three inches long ; filaments very delicate ; main branches many times divided ; secondary branches long ; many branchlets ; rose-colored. It grows in globose tufts, and is com- mon in Long Island Sound. (Plate XXXI.)
C. floccosnm. Fronds three to six inches long, hair-like in fineness ; flaccid ; main branches sparingly branched below ; numerous alternate branches above; all clothed with short, simple branchlets ; color dark brownish-red. The plant is so exceedingly fine that it is difficult to dis- tinguish the divisions. It grows on eel-grass and on algae below low- water mark, and is found from New York to Cape Cod. (Plate XXXI.)
GENUS G riffi th sia
(\ inn fil fin- Jfr.s. Griffiths, an English alyologist)
These are among the most beautiful of seaweeds, because of their brilliant color and exceedingly delicate structure. They grow in deep water, and specimens cast ashore are usually torn and imperfect, but they may often be gathered from deep tide- pools, and sometimes are found growing on eel-grass. If placed in fresh water they discharge their coloring-matter and quickly decompose.
G. B<n-m-ti(niti. Fronds two to five inches high ; filaments jointed, the divisions being long and pear-shaped, growing shorter as they near the top; repeatedly forked ; very soft and fragile. It grows in tufts, resembling corals; attains perfection in July, and disappears later in the summer. Found from Cape Cod southward, washed ashore after storms. (Plate XXXII.)
92 MARINE ALG.E
GENUS Ptllota
Feather-weed.
P. serf ata. Fronds three to six inches long1, dark red in color, cartilaginous; flattened main stem with opposite, flattened branches, one of which is minute, so that it appears like alternate branching ; branches also have lateral branchlets and pinnulse, looking like feathers or ferns ; all branching in one plane, making a flat frond. It is found in the drift on the beach after a storm, and is common from Cape Cod northward, and also on the California coast. (Plate XXXII.)
P. elcffans. Narrower and more delicate than P. s errata, otherwise it has the same essential features. It is common in summer from New York northward, growing on cliffs, under Fucus, near low-water mark, and it is also found washed upon the beach. (Plate XXXII.)
P. detisa. Frond three to twelve inches high, one eighth of an inch wide, flat, cartilaginous ; has leading stem with flat alternate branches ; branches simple or branched again ; edges of whole plant beset with notched, curved pinnulas alternating with smaller feather-like pinnulse, giving a dense edge to all parts of the frond. It is found on the Cali- fornia coast. (Plate XXXIII.)
P. hypnoides. Flat, cartilaginous main stem, much branched, and all beset with pinnula?. It differs from P. densa in having the alternate pinnulae straight and club-shaped, instead of toothed and curved, and the plant is not so dense and compact. Found on the California coast. (Plate XXXIII.)
GENUS Spyridia
S. filamentosa. Fronds four to eight inches long ; filaments as thick as bristles, irregularly and repeatedly branched ; young branches show articulations and seem to be striped ; all branches clothed with short, very delicate, transparent filaments, which give the plant a hazy ap- pearance ; color purplish-red, which becomes brown when dried ; does not collapse when taken from the water. It grows in tufts below low-water mark, and is found in the drift on the beach from Cape Cod southward. (Plate XXXIII.)
GENUS Ceramium
The pitcher- weed. This genus is easily recognized by the ends of the filaments, which are forked and incurved, resembling minute pincers or claws. The filaments are also more or less distinctly banded. It is widely distributed.
C. rubrum, red ceramium. This is a very common and robust species, found every where, and growing on everything. It is variable in appearance, becoming quite coarse when old, the incurving, claw-like ends, which are characteristic of the genus, being less pronounced. It branches by repeated forking, and, under the microscope, shows a bark-
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PLATE XXXI.
Callithaniniun anicricaiiuni, a piece Callithamnioii seirosperniuui.
magnified. C'allitliamuiou floccosuru.
Callitliainnion by.ssoideuni, var.
fastigiatum.
PLATE XXXII.
Griffithsia Bornetiana. Ptilota serrata, magnified.
Ptilota serrate. Ptilota elegans.
•
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.
PLATE XXXliJ.
Ptilota hypnoides,
Ptilota hy]iiiiii(lcs. Spy ridizi tilai i n -i 1 1 « »a .
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PLATE XXXIV.
Ceramium rubrum, var. proliferuni. Ceramium rubrum. top of frond magnified. Ceramium diaphanum. Ceramium tenuissiuium , var. paten tissi-
mum.
RED SEAWEEDS 93
like layer of cells over the whole surface, which make the ring-like bands on the filaments less conspicuous.
Variety pi'oHfenun. Fronds beset on all sides with simple or forked branchlets. (Plate XXXI V.)
Variety seciuiddtiun. Branchlets generally arranged on one side of the filaments, or secund.
C. strict unt ("straight"). Brown or purplish-red filaments of hair- like fineness, growing in tufts two to six inches high, branching in nar- row forks more and more closely as they reach the top of the frond. There are no principal branches, the filaments being of about the same diameter and regularly dividing in a forking manner throughout. The filaments are banded, the red rings being relatively very narrow. The white interstices at the base are several times longer than broad, but shorten gradually until at the top they are of equal length with the red bands. This species is common from Cape Cod to New York.
C. diaphanum. This species has comparatively stout leading branches, with secondary alternate branches which are finer than the main stems and divide in a forking manner throughout, and ultimately become very fine. The color is brown or purplish -red, distinctly banded. It grows on eel-grass and algae, and is found from Cape Cod to New York. (Plate XXXIV.)
C. fastigiatum. Filaments of hair-like fineness and of about same size throughout ; branched in regular forking manner throughout, the divisions being wide and distant at the base, but gradually becom- ing closer and narrower as they reach the top ; the upper segments about equal, giving a level top and regular outline in mounted speci- mens ; the terminal forks erect, or less incurved than in other species ; small points or brauchlets emanate from some of the nodes or joints between the bands of color; tufts globe-shaped, two to five inches high ; color lake-red. This species grows on mud-flats and mud-covered rocks as well as on algae and eel-grass.
C. tenuissimum. Fronds two to four inches high, densely tufted; the forked divisions very wide or open ; color rose-pink.
Variety pateiititsshn'nni. Fronds small; the forked divisions dis- tant and very wide open. A mounted specimen appears somewhat like network. The species is common in Long Island Sound. (Plate XXXIV.)
GENUS Microcladia
M. Conltf-fi. Cylindrical, slightly flattened main stem ; branches set uniformly and alternately, short at the base, gradually lengthening as far as the center, and from there diminishing1 to the apex of the stein, giving a leaf -like outline. The same mode of branching and the same outline are repeated in the branches. The ultimate divisions are like forked divisions, and are somewhat incurved. The plant is six to eight inches high, and in color is of many shades of red and pink. It is found in abundance on the Pacific coast at all seasons. (Plate XXXV.)
M. boreal is. Branches and branch lets placed on one side of arched main stems; secondary branches curved in opposite direction and benr- ing branchlets, also divided on one side only ; color dark brown. It is found on the northern Pacific coast. (Plate 'XXXV.)
94 MARINE ALG^E
ORDER CRYPTONEMIACE^E SUBORDER GLOIOSIPHONIEJE GENUS Gloiosiphonia
C" Viscid tube")
G. caplllaris. Frond six to ten inches high, solitary or in tufts ; main stem cylindrical, solid above, hollow below ; from about an inch above the base densely beset with short, wide-spreading branches arranged evenly and all around the stem ; branches again branched in the same way ; branches and branchlets attenuated at base and apex ; soft, tender, juicy ; shrinks much in drying. The species is easily recog- nized by its delicate gelatinous -substance, tapering branchlets, and brilliant red color. It is found in early summer in tide -pools on the New England coast.
SUBORDER GRATELOUPIEJE
GENUS Halyttienia
H. lifftildta. Frond membranaceous, repeatedly and regularly divided in a forking manner ; the larger divisions one half of an inch wide and growing very narrow at the top; four to five inches high, spreading in a fan-shape ; color rose-red. It is found at Key West.
GENUS Grateloupia
G. Cutler la. Frond coarse, flat, variable ; either simple, long, and narrow, or short and broad, tapering at both ends, or blunt at the apex, or deeply cleft into many segments ; sometimes with leaflets along the edges ; height two to three feet ; color reddish-brown ; in fading, changes to purple and green, and may be variegated. When simple, the plant resembles Irideea. Found on the northern California coast.
GENUS Prionitis
P. lanceolata. Frond narrow, flat, smooth ; leathery stems, which branch irregularly and sparingly from the edges ; branches bordered with lance-shaped leaflets ; color dark brownish-red ; plant ten or more inches high, and varies considerably. (Plate XXXV.)
There are other species, among them P. Andersonii (Plate XXXVI) ; all are easily distinguished by the lance-shaped leaflets. Common on the Pacific coast.
SUBORDER DUMONTIEJE GENUS Pikea
P. Californica. Divisions of frond thick, narrow, cartilaginous ;
central axis one eighth of an inch to one inch wide, three to four inches high, thickly set with similar branches irregularly placed ; all bordered
PLATE XXXV.
Microcladia Coulteri. Microcladia borealis.
Microcladia CouHrri, magnified. Prioniti.s lauceolata.
PLATE XXXVI.
Prionitis Andersonii.
Halosaccion raruentaceum.
Pikea Californica. Poly ides rotundus.
RED SEAWEEDS 95
with numerous forward-pointing branchlets, which in turn have spine- like ramuli of various lengths ; frond flat, broadly spreading; dark red. It is common at all seasons on the California coast. (Plate XXXVI.)
GENUS Halosaccion
H. ramentaceum. Fronds brownish-purple, six to fourteen inches long, coarse and cartilaginous, cylindrical, hollow, compressed, attenu- ated at the base; more or less covered with simple or forked hollow branches half the size of the main stem. In exposed pools the plants are short and densely branched; in sheltered places they are larger and more delicate in texture. They are common on the northern New Eng- land and northern California coasts. (Plate XXXVI.)
SUBORDER EHTZOPHYLLIDE^: GENUS Poly ides
P. rotundus. Frond three to six inches high, cylindrical, cartilagi- nous, repeatedly forked, ends obtuse ; spore-masses form numerous lighter- colored excrescences on the upper divisions of the frond ; dark red. Common from New York northward, in deep pools and washed ashore. (Plate XXXVI.)
SUBORDER SQUAMARIEJE GENUS Peyssonnelia
P. Dubyi. Frond completely adherent to the rock or stone on which it grows ; color dark purple ; somewhat calcareous ; redder and thicker than next species. It is found at low- water mark or in deep water on the northern New England and northern California coasts.
GENUS Petrocelis
P. cruenta. Frond closely adherent, forming dark-purple velvety patches of indefinite outline on rocks and stones. Common north of Cape Cod.
GENUS Hildenbrandtia
H. rosea. Forms continuous pink incrustations of considerable ex- tent on stones and rocks at low-water mark. Common everywhere.
SUBORDER CORALLINES
The genera of this suborder are characterized by a calcareous or stony incrustation of the fronds, which gives them the appear- ance of corals. Most of the species are tropical.
96 MARINE ALG^E
GENUS Corallina
C" Coral-like")
C. officinalis, common coralline. Frond grows from a disk in tufts more or less dense. The plant is rigid, and seems like jointed, branched coral. The articulations are cylindrical at the base, wedge-shaped and flattened above. Branches emanate from the top of the articulations. The color vai-ies from reddish-purple to gray-green, and is often bleached white when exposed to the sun. Common in tide-pools and on rocks at low-water mark from New York northward. (Plate XXXVII.)
GENUS Melobesla
This genus will attract attention, although it cannot be gathered. It is a thin, brittle, scaly substance of indefinite form, which ex- pands horizontally and resembles a lichen. It forms brown and pink crusts on other algas and on rocks, stones, and shells.
ORDER BANGIACE^E GENUS Bangia
B. fusco-purpurea (" brown-purple "). Fine, hair-like, unbranched, dark-purple filaments, one inch to six inches long. It grows in large patches on rocks and woodwork, floating free, but falling into soft, silky, fleece-like masses when left by the tide. Common on northern shores. (Plate XXXVII.)
GENUS Porphyra
("Purple dye")
This plant, except in color, is like the green alga Vim. In color it is purple of various shades. The species are named from variations in the outline of the frond. They are found every- where, and throughout the year. The plants are edible, being the laver of commerce, eaten principally by the Chinese, who make them into soup.
P. vulgaris. Frond a broad, thin membrane of purple color, three to twelve inches across ; margin much waved ; sometimes attached at the center, often widelv expanded and folded, sometimes deeply lobed. (Plate XXXVII.)
P. laciniata. Differs from P. vulgaris in being divided into narrow segments or into wavy, ribbon-like forms. (Plate XXXVII.)
i -I, ATI: \.\.\ vi i
Corallina oflicinalis. Forpliyra vul^.-iris.
Hau^ia fusco-purpurea. Porphyra luLMniatn.
PART II MARINE INVERTEBRATES
I
PORIFERA
(SPONGES)
TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE SPONGES
DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER
Phylum and Class
PORIFERA
Subclass
Calcarea
Genera
Order HETEROCffiLA
Families
SYCONID.E
( Grantia
( Lencosolenia
Subclass Non-Calcarea
Species
G. ciliata L. bolryoides
CHONDROSPONGL2E
SUBERITIDJE
CORNACUSPONGDE
DESMACIDONID-S:
C Suberites Polymastia Cliona
Esperiopsis Microciona
I
S. compacta P. robusta C. sulphurea
E. quatslnoensis M. prolifera
HETERORRHAPHID2E Teclania
HOMORRHAPHIDJE Halichondfla H. panicea
Cltalinopsilla
Eiispongia
Subfamily
Hippospongia
Subfamily 8TELOSPONGINJE
< Hircinia
100
C. oculata C. arbuscula E. ojflcinalis Var. adriatica Var. mollissima Var. rotunda Var. dura H. equina Var. cerebriformis Var. meandriformis Var. elastica H. canaliculata Var. gossypina Var. flabellum,
H. campana
SPONGES
THERE are many animals which consist of but one cell. These are called Protozoa, and comprise the Infusoria and other mi- croscopic organisms. The animals next higher in the scale are Mdazoa, or inulticellular animals, and the first group of this sub- division is Porifera, the sponges, the lowest of the many-celled animals.
For a long time sponges occupied a disputed ground between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Aristotle was the first to point out that a sponge is not a plant. The assertion was doubted and combated, but at last the animal nature of the sponge was established. Sponges were then believed to be colonies of one-celled animals, but finally it was decided that they were indi- viduals with cells of different kinds that performed functions analogous to those of higher organisms.
The sponge, as commonly seen, is only the skeleton or frame- work, so to speak, of the living animal. In its natural state it is a very different-looking object. Its entire surface is covered with a thin slimy skin, usually of a dark color, which is perforated with holes corresponding to the apertures of the canals. The organic portion of the sponge is a soft, jelly-like substance composed of three layers— the external (eH<xl<'n»}, the internal (cmlortenH), and the middle (mesoderm). The external layer is composed of flat cells. The endoderrn has cylindrical cells, each one of which has a flagellate hair. The main mass of the body, the mesodcrm or middle layer, is made up of cells having various functions, some being concerned in the formation of framework, some in diges- tion, and some in reproduction.
The framework is secreted in the mesodcrm, and in different
101
102
MARINE INVERTEBRATES
Various forms of sponge-spicules.
genera consists respectively of a horny or silicious or calcareous substance, or of the first two of these substances combined. The sponge of commerce has the first kind and is composed en- tirely of exceedingly fine flexible fibers of a horny substance called spongin. In other species the spongin is intermixed with spic- ules of silica, or of carbonate of lime, in various shapes. In the sponges, so much valued as curiosities, called "Venus's flower-basket" and "glass-rope sponge," the framework is composed of silicious spicules alone. The spicules have a great variety of shapes, being rod-like, knobbed, three-pointed, six-pointed, anchor-like, etc., and are a feature in the classification of sponges.
The sponge is traversed throughout by a canal system, con- sisting of a series of tubes through which water circulates, carry- ing air and food to the ani- mal. The exterior of the sponge has numerous small pores and a comparatively few large openings. The fine pores are inhalent, taking in and straining the water of its coarser floating material, and then passing it through perforations in their sides into sacs lined with peculiar cylindrical cells having flagel- late hairs, each hair having a collar at its base. These cells, called cJwanocytes, re- semble independent animals of the Protozoa, known as flagellate Infusoria or Choa-
Mes
T/
To illustrate choauocytes (Ch) : seetiot. cu a cal- careous sponge. Ect, ectoderm ; Mes, mesoderrn ; N, calcareous spicule ; Eiz, ovum.
SPONGES
103
noJIiKji Haiti. They take in and digest food and eject excre- ment from the area inclosed by the collar. The cilia (hairs) by their constant movement create currents which keep the water in motion. Water, then, is taken through the pores into the first or incurrent canals; thence it is passed into the ciliated chambers, and thence into the excurrent canals, and out through large passages terminating in large openings called oscitla, or craters. The canal systems vary. In some species they become quite com- plex.
Sponges vary greatly in shape, size, color, surface, rigid- ity, canal systems, and skel- eton. They are cake-shaped, tubular, digitate, palmate, cup- shaped, vase-shaped, cone- shaped, spherical, hemispheri- cal, pedunculate, etc., their shapes depending upon wheth- er their growth is uniform or is excessive in a horizontal or in a vertical direction. When they grow evenly in both direc- tions massive uniform shapes arise. If lateral growth pre- dominates, broad, low, and in- crusting shapes result. Whm there is an excess of vertical growth the forms are digitate ;
Canal system of Siii-mi iii/nti/mxHm. Transverse ' n. in through tin- wall of a cylinder (parallel with the rcnirso of the canal*), showing on.- in- i-niTi-nt canal I/'') ami our radial (/.') throughout ! In ii- length ; xy, trirailiatc spiculcs ; .•./<'. ovcati- spii-ulcs of diTinal cort> x dli'): .-/'". ti-traradiate spii-ulos of s;a>tral corti-x (<if) ; <-r. i.cti M|ITIII ; <•//, I'liiloilcrni : inn. ]iorc-iiicnil>vanc ; /'/'. pi'"so]i\ lr ; n l>. :i|io|iylc; ili. ilia|iliraL'in ; (XC, BXCnrrent Jias- ~:ii'''-. I'll, jiarailiistric cnvily: fin, I'arly <'iiihry<> ;
i in' . lalf cnihryn. ('I'lir ftlTOWB indicate tli ut's>-
of tin; wutt-r through the spoiii,'c.)
104 MARINE INVERTEBRATES
but if vertical growth is not greatly in excess and is restricted to the marginal part, cup-shaped forms result, and tubular forms when lateral growth is particularly restricted. In some varieties tubular masses coalesce ; sometimes flat forms unite in intricate com- pressed folds. Differences in rapidity of vertical growth make undulations more or less marked, producing lobes and protuber- ances. Sometimes narrow vertical growth is retarded and hori- zontal growth predominates, forming various shapes on apparent stems.
Many of the horny sponges are colored, in shades of yellow, brown, red, and violet ; some are black.
Sponges are divided into two classes, the Calcarea and Non- Calcarea. The former have calcareous skeletons, which make them hard and rigid ; the latter have skeletons of spongin-fiber or of silicious spicules, or of the two combined.
All sponges, with the exception of one family (the Spongillidce, which live in fresh water), are inhabitants of the sea, and live at various depths. The sponges of commerce belong to the Non-Cal- carea and are all confined to the genus Spoiujia. In this genus the skeleton is more or less flexible, being composed of spongin. They are shallow- water species, are confined to seas where the waters are of comparatively uniform high temperature, and flourish best when protected by reefs and islands.
There are fisheries for sponges in the waters of the West Indies, the Bahamas, on the southern and western coasts of Florida, and in the Mediterranean and Red seas. Those of the Mediterranean surpass in quality the sponges of our coasts.
Five species of commercial sponges are taken from Florida waters. They are graded by the trade in the order of their im- portance, as the " sheepswool," " yellow," " grass/' " velvet," and " glove." The fishing for sponges is done from small boats, two persons manning each boat. One man sculls, while the other, using a wrater-glass, scans the bottom. The water-glass is a box with a pane of glass on the bottom. If the glass is held below the surface and the face is placed in the box, the observer is enabled to see with some distinctness the bottom at a considerable depth
SPONGES 105
in these clear waters. The sponges are dragged up by hooks — a primitive method which restricts the fishing to shallow water, the fishing here being in water not deeper than thirty feet, but usually three to twenty feet. The sponges are "killed" by being exposed on the beach for several days ; they are then placed in " crawls," or pens, where they are washed by the action of the waves for about a week ; then, if clean, they are dried, assorted, strung on cords, pressed and baled for shipment. The sponge-fisheries are of considerable value, and much attention is being given to the subject of artificial propagation. It is thought that such beds could be subjected to the regulations which govern oyster-beds. Already the planting of sponges has been shown to be practi- cable. The living sponge is cut to pieces, and the cuttings are placed in favorable localities. Pieces planted in Florida waters attain a marketable size in one year.
Sponges reproduce by eggs formed in the mesoderm. The eggs escape as ciliated spheres and swim about until they find a place on which to attach themselves. As soon as they become fixed they grow with much rapidity into mature individuals.
Some species seem to prefer association with other animals and live as commensals with crabs. The crab Dromia is always con-
•/
cealed under a sponge, which grows upon its back. Spider-crabs are often overgrown with sponges as well as seaweeds. In this case, however, the crab finds and plants the sponge himself. A/>///s<//(i riot<ir<><i overgrows worm-tubes. Many sponges afford shelter to numerous small animals which bore into their bodies for protection, no animal seeming to feed upon the sponge.
Sponges may be found in tide-pools, on the under side of stones, on seaweeds, and so on. A small bright-red incrusting sponge with irregular lobe-like branches is common on the New England coast; a thin yellow incrustiug sponge also is found on the under side of stones. Cimnfio d/inta, a small urn-shaped species, having a large aperture at the summit, is found in tide- pools.
Perhaps the most singular in habit of any sponge is C/i<»t<i xitlithiin'ti, the boring-sponge, a common species found from Cape Cod to South Carolina and abundant in Long Island Sound. It
106 MARINE INVERTEBRATES
is bright sulphur-yellow in color, grows in irregular masses of considerable size and fine texture, and has low wart-like promi- nences. It lives on shells spreading over both surfaces, at first forming little burrows, but eventually penetrating the shell in every direction, honeycombing and at last completely destroying it by absorption. Sometimes it settles upon living shells and greatly irritates the animal, which constantly secretes new lime to cover the perforations in its shell.
These sponges are an important factor in the economy of the sea, as they disintegrate dead shells, which would otherwise accumulate in vast quantities.
SUBCLASS CALCAREA
GENUS Grantia
G. ciliata. Small, urn-shaped or oval, with large aperture at the summit, surrounded by a circle of projecting spicules. It is found in tide-pools and on piles of wharves from Rhode Island northward.
GENUS Leucosolenia
L. botryoides. Tubular, branched. Occurs in the same places as Grantia ciliata.
SUBCLASS NON-CALCAREA
GENUS Suberites
S. compacta. Elongated, compressed masses, sometimes in several lobes ; attached by one edge ; texture fine, firm, compact ; surface smooth ; color bright yellow. It grows on sandy bottoms, and is com- mon in shallow water south of Cape Cod. (Plate XXXVIII.)
GENUS Polymastia
P. robusta. When young it forms yellowish -white incrustations over shells and stones ; later it grows into long, slender, round, tapering, finger-like projections. Found on the northern New England coasts in deep water.
GENUS Cliona
C. sulpJiurea, the boring-sponge. Irregular massive form of firm texture ; surface covered with scattered low wart-like prominences about one eighth of an inch in diameter ; bright sulphur-yellow. It destroys, by absorption, vast quantities of dead shells.
I'LATK XXXVIII.
Haliclioiiflria panicea. Hircinia canipana.
Sillirritrs i-<iiii]>:ii-t:i. Ksprriopsis <|ii:itsiiitn'iisis (found on the sca-bcaclics of Alaska i.
PLATE XXXIX.
Microcioiia prolifera. Chalinopsilla ai-huscula.
Chalinopsilla imitaris. Euspongia officinalis, var. tuba. Chalinopsilla oculata.
SPONGES 107
GENUS Microciona
M. prolifcrn. When young this species forms bright-red incrustations over shells and stones ; later it rises into irregular lobes and tubular prom- inences. When fully developed it is profusely branched in a forking manner. The branches are more or less flattened, and often arc; palmate at the ends. It grows in clusters six inches in diameter, of a dark orange-veil color. When dry it is grayish-brown, brittle, and bristly. It is found from Cape C'od to South ( 'arolina, and is abundant in Long Island Sound. (Plate XXXIX.)
GENUS Tedania
Irregular, uneven, pale-yellow masses spreading over seaweeds; oscula scattered irregularly over the surface; texture close.
GENUS HaUchondria
H. paniceti, crumb-of -bread sponge. It resembles the crumb of bread, and is found cast up on all beaches. (Plate XXXVIII.)
GENUS Chalinopsilla
C. ocnlata, the finger-sponge. Stem stout, more or less flattened, dividing at the upper end into branches which vary in form and thickness, being finger-like or more or less compressed lobes ; oscula scattered over the smooth, undulating surface ; texture rather hard, but delicate ; color, when living, dull orange-red; when the animal matter is removed, white. The species is found in shallow and deep water from New York to Labrador. Common in Massachusetts Bay. (Plate XXXIX.)
C. ftrhnscnl<(. Profusely branched in a forking manner from close to the base; branches slender; clusters six to eight inches high and about the same in breadth ; color buff or gray when living, yellowish- white when free from animal matter ; texture finer and more delicate than that of C. oculata. It is found in shallow water from Cape Cod to North Carolina, and is abundant in Long Island Sound. (Plate XXXIX.)
GENUS Eiisponyhi
E. ojJiriimHs. This is one of the commercial sponges and is known as the "glove-sponge." It is the one of least marketable value, having inferior elasticity and becoming brittle with age; yet a Mediterranean sponge of the same species, variety (idrinfird, is of the line-t quality and greatest value. This singular fact demonstrates that the quality of sponges depends largely upon physical conditions. E. o(ji<-innlix has an average height of five to six inches. It grows on rocky bottoms in shallow water on the east coast of Florida. This species has a num- ber of varieties of various forms; some are dome-shaped, others tubular, rotund, Haliellate, etc. The surface is covered with fine tufts and is generally free from ridges. On the sides are numerous small apertures,
108 MARINE INVERTEBRATES
and one or more large oscula occur on top. The color of the living sponge is black. (Plates XXXIX, XL.)
E. officinalis, variety adriatica. More or less globose ; sometimes attached by a broad base, sometimes by a short stem ; latter form more or less club-shaped ; oscula scattered over upper surface. Found in the West Indies and the Mediterranean. (Plate XL.)
E. officinalis, variety mollissima, the Levant toilet-sponge. Gener- ally cup-shaped ; oscula on inner side of cup or on upper flat surface ; very soft and elastic.
E. officinalis, variety rotunda. Usually massive; attached by a broad base ; sides vertical ; oscula large and conspicuous on top, or small in longitudinal rows on the sides. In the young this variety may have a conical form with only one orifice, but later it has several oscula. Its rotundity of form increases with the number of large orifices, but in the adult stages the form varies, some being conical, while others have the top divided into radiating ridges.
E. officinalis, variety dura. Irregular, massive, horizontally ex- panded, with conical process on upper surface.
GENUS Hippospongia
H. equina. Some of the sponges of this species are massive, spheri- cal, and attached by a small base ; others are horizontally expanded or cake-shaped ; some have a depression in the upper surface and become cup-shaped.
H. equina, variety cerebriformis. Massive, circular, cake-shaped, often depressed in the center, producing a cup-shape, attached by broad base ; surface broken up by parallel longitudinal ridges having many tufts. Cup-shaped forms predominate, and have a more or less rough surface. This is one of the species known as grass-sponges.
H. equina, variety meandriformis, the velvet sponge. The sur- face of this variety has a protruding flattened cushion of fiber which slightly resembles the convolutions of the brain-coral. Sometimes these cushions are extended into long pencils. The oscula are large and ragged on the edges ; the shape is irregular. The average size is seven to eight inches in diameter. (Plate XL.)
if. equina, variety elastica (variety agaridna, Hyatt), the yellow sponge. This is the second grade of commercial sponge, corresponding to the Zimocca sponge of the Mediterranean. It is found growing with the " sheepswool" in a depth of two to twenty feet, and is abundant. It is massive and cake-shaped. The whole surface is a network covered with numerous small, fine cones. (Plate XL.)
The variety dura is classed with this species, which it resembles in appearance, though it is harder in texture.
H. canaliculata. Massive, frondose ; more or less horizontally expanded ; bears finger-like processes of varying development on the upper surface.
H. canaliculata, variety gossypina, the sheepswool sponge. This is the highest grade of the commercial bath-sponge. It is called " sheeps- wool " becaiise, perhaps, of its irregular shaggy surface. It is covered with tufts, the larger oscula occupying the intervening depressions.
1'LATK XL.
Euspongia officinalis, v:ir. adriatira. 1 1 ippnspnii^ia r<|uina, var. meandriformis.
IIi|)posp(iii^i:i cnnalici.hila, 1 1 ippuspiin^iii cip-iina, vur.
var. ^ossypina. Kus| ^ia ntlicinalis.
SPONGES 10!)
Sometimes these are very numerous, the whole interior being cavernous ; again, the structure is more dense, with Truer large openings and more of the small ones between the tui'ts; again, the depressions are filled up so that the surface has fewer tufts. When living, the color is shining black. This is the best sponge found on the American coast, and although of coarser texture than the best Mediterranean sponges, it is more durable and quite as elastic. (Plate XL.)
//. canaliculcda, variety JinbcUinn (Sjnnt(/i« (/I'fnninea, Hyatt). This is one of the species of sponges of the third commercial grade, which boar the trade-name of "grass-sponge." The shape is cone-like, with either a Hat or a funnel-shaped top. The oscula re on the upper surface. The sides are fluted with deep furrows which contain the small incurrent apertures.
GENUS Hh'cinia
II. cfiinpfina. The normal variety is vase-shaped, but the species varies greatly in form. Some varieties have branches. When living, its color is black. It is found at Key West in four to forty feet depth. (Plate XXXVIII.)
II
CCELENTERATA
(POLYPS)
Phylum CffiLENTERATA
Classes HYDKOZOA
(Zoophytes, small Jellyfishes, and a few Corals)
SCYPHOZOA
(Large Jellyfishes)
ACTINOZOA
(Sea-anemones and most of the Stony Corals)
CTENOPHORA
(Comb-jellies)
112
CCELENTERATA
THE animals included in the phylum Ccelenterata were once all called zoophytes, or animal plants, because of their resem- blance to vegetable forms. The name Ccelenterata is derived from two Greek words meaning "hollow" and "intestine," and it describes the anatomical structure of each member of the group. They are commonly known as polyps. In the simplest forms the parts which perform the different functions cannot be distinguished one from the other, and even in higher forms there is but little differentiation. Shakspere's description of old age applies to them : " Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every- thing."
Nevertheless, this very low order of animals has, like the higher orders, such a diversity of form and habit as to require classification. Some of them are stationary, and of these some
«/ 7
branch like plants ; some move about by the aid of tentacles, some move by means of vibrating cilia, and others move by the con- traction and expansion of the soft body.
Cuvier included them in his J{<t<1i<if«, a, class comprising all the animals whose parts diverge or radiate from a central axis. Recent classification has divided the radiate, animals into several classes. This arrangement of parts is obviously quite different from that of bilateral symmetry, or the disposal of parts on each side of a longitudinal axis. The type of radiate structure is shown in polyps. The body is a sac, in the center of which is another sac or axis. This is the digestive cavity. Vertical partitions extend from the central to the outer sac, forming dis- 8 113
114
MARINE INVERTEBRATES
Diagram of radiate structure.
tinct divisions or chambers. The number of divisions varies with the different species and also with the age of the animal. Other partitions start from the outer sac, and extend toward the central axis, but do not unite with it. These partitions, called mesenteries, are always in definite multiples, varying in different species, new divisions growing between the first partitions in
regular order. On the inner edge of these partitions the eggs of the animal are formed, which, when mature, drop into the chambers and pass through openings into the inner sac, or digestive cavity, and out of the mouth into the water.
The animals are classed according as the eggs are formed on all or on special par- titions, those being of the highest order where a limitation and constancy of func- tion is maintained. The upper surface
of the body has hollow tentacles, each one of which opens into one of the chambers and extends outward. All parts of the animal communicate, and whatever enters the mouth circulates through the whole structure; and when assimilation is com- pleted the residue returns by the same road and is expelled through the mouth. This structure is common to all polyps; but there are great differences in their texture, some being soft and some horny, while others deposit a calcareous skeleton (corals). Some grow in colonies, like the hydroids and corals, and are stationary, others are free and independent ; some have but few, others have many tentacles ; and they differ widely in size, form, and color.
Hydroids, sea-anemones, corals, sea-fans, starfishes, and sea- urchins are different examples of the radiate structure. They are not, however, all of them polyps.
The Ccdenterata are divided into four classes : Hydrozoa, which include the colonies of zoophytes which resemble seaweeds, the small jellyfishes which are born of these colonies, and the mine- pores, which are colonies of zoophytes which secrete a stony instead of a horny skeleton, yet differ in some respects from other
CCELENTERATA 115
stoiiy corals ; Scyphozoa, large jellyfishes, many of which do not have the double form of development ; Actinozoa, the sea-anemones and the diflVrent forms of stony corals, including sea-fans, sea- pens, etc. ; Ctenophora, the jellyfishes commonly known as comb- jellies.
TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE HYDROZOA DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER
Class HYDROZOA
Order LEPTOLINUE
(Branched colonies or shrub-like communities of hydroids ; some permanently fixed, others liberate swimming -belts)
Suborders
ANTHOMEDUS-K
(Zooids not covered ly protective sheath ; um- brella of medusce strong- ly arched ; egg-sacs in manubrium)
TUBULARIANS
C Without polyp-cups)
LEPTOMEDUS.K
(Zooids covered with cup- Kke sheaths ; umbrella of medusae thin and not very convex ; egg-sacs in line of radial canals)
Family GERYONOPSID«
Family
Divisions Genera and Species
/ Clava leptostyla Hydt'actinia polyclina Coryne mirabilis Sarsia
Eiidendrium ramosum T^lb^lla^ia indivisa T. CoutJiouyi Parypha crocea Corytnorpha pendula Hi/bocodon prolifcr Pennaria tiarella P. f/ibbosa
Bouga invillea superciliaris Obelia commissuralis Eucope diaphana Oceania lanauitia Clytia poterinnt C. bicopJiora Serf -i 1 1 aria pum ila S. argentea S. cnpressina
( Afflaophemia strutJiioldes I Pliimularia falcata
Titna formosa
CAMPANULARIANS
(Polyp-cups stalked)
SERTULARIANS (Polyp-cups sessile)
PLUMULARIANS
(Polyp-cups on one side of branches only)
Zyyodactyla aroenlandica
116
HYDROZOA .
Order TRACHYLINJE
(Xo fixed zoophyte stage; always free-swimming medusae) Suborders Genera and Species
TRACHYMEDUSJE
(Tentacles spring from maniin uf umbrella; j
Trachynenia dtyitale
manubnum long; go- » nads in connection with
117
NARCOMEDUSJE (Tentacles spring from midway between sum- mit and margin of itiiihrdla ; manubrii'iii short ; gonads in con- nection with manu- brium)
Order HYDROCORALLINA
(Skeleton of carbonate of lime)
Millepora alcicornis
Order SIPHONOPHORA