Marine Algae of the Aleutian Islands
As a child growing up on Long Island, New York, I met Edmund Morgan at the Takapausha Museum in Seaford. He turned me on to both birding and marine algae. Attu Island in the outermost Aleutians was an ideal place to indulge both interests. While on five birding trips to Attu (4 Spring, one Fall) I collected all the marine algae I could find. I have also visited Shemya and Adak, once each. Below are the species I found and identified, with great help on identification from Michael Wynne at the University of Michigan. This is a work in progress. I am still trying to identify many species, especially the nasty Porphyras.
The major work on algae in the north Pacific has been on collections from Amchitka Island in the Aleutians and from the Commander Islands in Russia. Attu is directly between these two locations.
The taxonomy on this page is based on the algae database of Michael Guiry at http://www.algaebase.org/
Michael Wynne of U. Michigan helped me with many of the identifications. Those that are wrong are mine, and I would appreciate comments on taxonomy or identifications.
Click photos or name for blowup.GREEN ALGAE
Ulothrix flacca Ulva fenestrata Acrosiphonia spinescens BROWN ALGAE
Desmarestia kurilensis Desmarestia viridis Desmarestia ligulata Desmarestia aculeata Agarum clathratum Cymathere triplicata Thalassiophyllum clathrus RED ALGAE
Cirrulicarpus gmeline Pleuroblepharidella japonica Mikamiella ruprechtiana Pleonosporium kobayashi Pterothamnion sp. Sparlingia pertusa
Irtugovia shimanurana Odonthalia kamtschatica Odonthalia lyallii Tokidadendron kurilensis Tokidaea serrata Pterosiphonia bipinnata
Membranoptera serrata Membranoptera dimorpha Membranoptera spinulosa
Dr. Daniel A. Guthrie
Professor of Biology
(909) 607-2836 or email
Return to Dr. GuthrieWM Keck Science Center, 925 North Mills Ave., Claremont, CA 91711 telephone: 909-621-8298
