Paddle blade alga
Avrainvillea nigricans
Decaisne, 1842

Description:
The paddle blade alga has a dark brown-greenish, spongy, blade with a texture reminiscent of suede. The blade ends in a stem with a holdfast. It grows to about 15 cm high with blades about 6 to 8 cm wide and long. The plant body is coenocytic, i.e., the plant is multinucleate and nonseptate.

Habitat:
Common in shallow, sheltered waters.

Distribution:
South Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean.

Remarks:
It has several related species, with A. rawsonii at Curacao. Positive identification requires laboratory examination of the specimens.

Kingdom Protoctista
Phylum Chlorophyta
Genus Avrainvillea
Species Avrainvillea nigricans

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Avrainvillea nigricans Decaisne, 1842

Scientific synonyms and common names

Paddle blade alga [English]
Peddelwier [Dutch]
Algue-pagaie [French]
Paddel-Alge [German]

Colin, P.I., 1978. Caribbean reef invertebrates and plants. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd.

Voss, G.L., 1976. Seashore life of Florida and the Carribbean. Banyan Books, Inc. Miami, Florida.

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You can continue searching for Avrainvillea nigricans on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

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