Seaweed Essay

Seaweed (Caulerpa taxifolia)

Biological classification:

Kingdom: Protista

Phylum: Green Algae

Class: Bryopsidophyceae

Order: Bryopsidales

Family: Caulerpaceae

Genus: Caulerpa

Species: Caulerpa Taxifolia

(Caulerpa Taxifolia - Wiki)

Body Plan and Physical Characteristics:

It is bright green, leaf like plant. It has many branches on each plant. It is considered feather like, each branch can grow up to 10cm in length (Preskitt). Each little feather grows out from a center stalk that can be up to 2mm in diameter (Preskitt). Caulerpa Taxifolia is very strong and invasive, so many states and places have taken action to eliminate it or at least control it.

Where it lives, and location on the globe and oceans:

This was originally found in mainly aquariums, but escaped to the ocean in 1984 (The Killer Algae). It is a form of seaweed that lives in tropical waters of the ocean, so it is a saltwater plant. It was supposed to be just for aquariums but when it escaped it became very invasive to the mediterranean sea and off the coast of California (Caulerpa Taxifolia). But it can also be found in almost any tropical waters. It lives on rocks and coral or anything else it can attach to and grow. Caulerpa Taxifolia has to live somewhat near the surface because it needs sunlight for photosynthesis, it

So because of this they are almost unaffected by these ocean forces. Tides have no affect on the Hagfish because at the depth they live at the tides to not expose them to light or uncover their habitat because they live down so deep. Currents and waves also have basically no impact on the Hagfish because they can move on their own and even stop and stay in one area if they want. But these currents and waves have have a very small impact and that is that they can carry or help move the Hagfish around on the ocean floor, but that only happens if the Hagfish don 't want to swim against the