Aegagropila linnaei Kützing

Classification:
Empire Eukaryota
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Chlorophyta
Class Ulvophyceae
Order Cladophorales
Family Pithophoraceae
Genus Aegagropila

Pictures

click on thumbnail for larger version.

Lake balls. Portion of the ball-like structure showing the branched filaments. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Portion of the ball-like structure showing the branched filaments. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Panorama merge of several images showing branching. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Teased-out portion of ball; panorama merge of many images.Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Lake balls. Teased-out portion of ball; panorama merge of several images. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Chloroplast, BF image. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Surface view of a ball showing individual filaments. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Red-cyan anaglyph showing 3D form of braching. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Lake balls. Red-cyan anaglyph showing branching in 3D. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Red-cyan anaglyph showing branching in 3D. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.. 27 Sep 2009. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

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16 Found - Displaying 1 through 10

Aegagropila linnaei Kützing Portion of the ball-like structure showing the branched filaments. Collected by David John from a brackish-water loch, Loch Brugain, on South Uist, Outer Hebrides.

Publication details
Aegagropila linnaei Kützing 1843: 272

Original publication: Kützing, F.T. (1843). Phycologia generalis oder Anatomie, Physiologie und Systemkunde der Tange... Mit 80 farbig gedruckten Tafeln, gezeichnet und gravirt vom Verfasser. pp. [part 1]: [i]-xxxii, [1]-142, [part 2:] 143-458, 1, err.], pls 1-80. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus.
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Type species
This is the type species (holotype) of the genus Aegagropila.

Status of name
This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Cladophora aegagropila var. linnaei (Kützing) Rabenhorst 1868

General environment
This is a Marine/Freshwater species.

Common names

(as Aegagropila linnaei Kützing)
Japanese: Marimo (Yoshii et al. 2004).

(as Cladophora aegagropila (Linnaeus) Trevisan)
Swedish: Getraggsalg (Tolstoy & Österlund 2003).

Distribution by country

Type information
Type locality: Sweden (Hoek 1963: 51). Type: L 938/303/280 (Hoek 1963: 51).

Detailed distribution with sources
(as Aegagropila linnaei Kützing)
Europe: Britain (Brodie et al. 2007), Ireland (Guiry 2012), Sweden (Hanyuda et al. 2002).

Asia: Japan (Hanyuda et al. 2002).

(as Cladophora aegagropila (Linnaeus) Trevisan)
Europe: Adriatic (Giaccone 1978, Gallardo et al. 1993, Battelli 1997), Baltic Sea (Nielsen et al. 1995), Britain (Burrows 1991, John 2002, Hardy & Guiry 2003, Whitton et al. 2003), Ireland (Guiry 1978, Burrows 1991), Italy (Gallardo et al. 1993, Cecere et al. 1996, Furnari, Cormaci & Serio 1999, Báez et al 2005a), Sardinia (Gallardo et al. 1993), Spain (Gallardo et al. 1985, Alvárez Cobelas & Gallardo 1986, Cambra Sánchez, Álvarez Cobelas & Aboal Sanjurjo 1998, Calvo, Bárbara & Cremades 1999, Calvo & Bárbara 2002, Bárbara et al. 2005), Sweden (Tolstoy & Österlund 2003), Veneto (Sfriso, A.).

North America: Arkansas (Smith 2010).

South-west Asia: Sri Lanka (Silva, Basson & Moe 1996), Turkey (Asia) (Taskin et al. 2008 ).

Australia and New Zealand: Queensland (Bostock & Holland 2010), South Australia (Day et al. 1995), Victoria (Day et al. 1995).

Conservational notes
Cladophora balls, or 'Marimo' as the Japanese call them, were declared a Japanese Natural Treasure in 1921, and then in 1952 became a Special Japanese Natural Treasure. Lake Akan is the most commonly known lake containing the balls, but they can also be found in Lakes Shiranitoro, Toro, Kawaguchi and Sai, all in the Iloklaido district of Japan. Local mythology surrounding these balls tells the story of a young man and young woman who are said to have drowned in the lake, and their hearts turned into Cladophora balls. The survival of the balls in Japan has been under threat on more than one occasion. The use of Lake Akan to transport timber caused many populations to die. As the timber floated in the lake whilst waiting to be transported, it blocked the vital sunlight that the plants require. Between 1945 and 1954, water-powered electrical generators caused a drop in the lake's water level, leaving many plants exposed to the open air, and nearly eradicating the population.

Cladophora balls were first discovered in Lake Zeller, Austria in 1824 by Dr Anton E Sauter, a physician and botanist. They were named Cladophora aegagropila and they belong to the Cladophora sauteri group. Cladophora means 'branched plant', aegagropila means 'lake ball' and sauteri is derived from Dr Sauter's name. Lake balls were subsequently found to exist in the United Kingdom, Russia, Iceland, Sweden and some other countries.

Lake balls have a green velvet-like appearance and have been known to grow to about 30 cm in diameter. At one time it was thought that Cladophora was extremely slow growing, taking between 150 and 200 years to reach the size of a tennis ball. Recent studies however suggest that the slow growth rate in more recent time is due to poor water conditions, It has also been found that the growth rate can be improved by mixing sea water with the lake water. In common with most plants, this species obtains nourishment by absorbing sunlight using the process of photosynthesis. The plants must remain in positions that receive plenty of sunlight otherwise they wilt start to die. Fortunately the plants are able to move around by means of the undercurrents of the lake, which allows them to swap places with plants in the deeper areas of the lake. This process of rotation allows all the plants to photosynthesize and therefore ensures their survival. It has been reported that the plant has the ability to float or sink, in order to position itself depending on the brightness of the sunlight. Plants then to grow in large groups in the shallower parts of the lake, but they can grow so densely that other plant life can be totally obscured. Another benefit of being spherical is that when silt and other fine debris collects on the uppermost surface of the plant, gravity causes it to naturally rotate with the weight and the debris will fall off.

Today, Cladophora balls can be found in Lake Myvatn in northern Iceland, although there is far more information relating to the balls found in Lake Akan in Japan. - (18 Sep 2007) - Wendy Guiry

Taxonomic notes
Hanyuda et al. (2002) note that Aegagropila linnaei has usually been called Cladophora aegagropila (Linnaeus) Rabenhorst or Cladophora sauteri (Nees ex Kützing) Kützing and that based on morphology, it was formerly classified into section Aegagropila or into the subsection Aegagropila, together with several marine species of the genus Cladophora. This classification is not supported by their phylogenetic analyses in which two very distinct Cladophorales clades are recognized. They conclude that the correct name for Cladophora balls (lake balls or Marimo in Japanese) is A. linnaei. Results also indicate that adaptation from a marine to a freshwater habitat has happened at least twice independently in the Cladophorales. - (28 Nov 2006) - Wendy Guiry

Key references
Burova, O.V., Tsarenko, P.M., Kovalenko, O.V., Mikhailyuk, T.I., Petlovany, O.A., Lilitska, G.G. & Bilous, O.P. (2011). Ulvophyceae. In: Algae of Ukraine: diversity, nomenclature, taxonomy, ecology and geography. Volume 3: Chlorophyta. (Tsarenko, P.M., Wasser, S.P. & Nevo, E. Eds), pp. 20-61. Ruggell: A.R.A. Gantner Verlag K.-G.

Hanyuda, T., Wakana, I., Arai, S., Miyaji, K., Watano, Y. & Ueda, K. (2002). Phylogenetic relationships within Cladophorales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) inferred from 18S rRNA gene sequences with special reference to Aegagropila linnaei. Journal of Phycology 38: 564-571.

Hoek, C. van den (1963). Revision of the European species of Cladophora. Proefschrift...Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. pp. [i]-xi, [1]-248, 1 fig, 55 plates, 18 maps. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Yoshii, Y., Hanyuda, T., Wakana, I., Miyaji, K., Arai, S., Ueda, K. & Inouye, I. (2004). Carotenoid compositions of Cladophora balls (Aegagropila linnaei) and some members of the Cladophorlaes (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta): their taxonomic and evolutionary implication. Journal of Phycology 40(6): 1170-1177, 3 figs, 3 tables.

SAG Cultures
SAG Cultures may be viewed at http://sagdb.uni-goettingen.de/showstrains.php?genus=Aegagropila&species=linnaei

SCCAP Cultures
Cultures from the Scandinavian Culture Collection of Algae at the University of Copenhagen (SCCAP) and Protozoa may be viewed at http://www.sccap.dk/search/algaebase.asp?Genus=Aegagropila&Species=linnaei

NCBI Nucleotide Sequences

Created: 04 April 2003 by Elizabeth Moran

Verified by: 14 March 2013 by M.D. Guiry

Accesses: This record has been accessed by users 3053 times since it was created.

References
(Please note: only references with the binomials in the title are included. The information is from the Literature database.)

Boedeker, C., Eggert, A., Immers, A. & Smets, E. (2010). Global decline of and threats to Aegagropila linnaei, with special reference to the lake ball habit. BioScience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 60: 187-198.
Boedeker, C., Eggert, A., Immers, A. & Wakana, I. (2010). Biogeography of Aegagropila linnaei (Cladophorophyceae, Chlorophyta): a widespread freshwater alga with low effective dispersal potential shows a glacial imprint in its distribution. Journal of Biogeography 37: 1491-1503.
Hanyuda, T., Wakana, I., Arai, S., Miyaji, K., Watano, Y. & Ueda, K. (2002). Phylogenetic relationships within Cladophorales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) inferred from 18S rRNA gene sequences with special reference to Aegagropila linnaei. Journal of Phycology 38: 564-571.
Yoshii, Y., Hanyuda, T., Wakana, I., Miyaji, K., Arai, S., Ueda, K. & Inouye, I. (2004). Carotenoid compositions of Cladophora balls (Aegagropila linnaei) and some members of the Cladophorlaes (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta): their taxonomic and evolutionary implication. Journal of Phycology 40(6): 1170-1177, 3 figs, 3 tables.

Linking to this page: http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=59094

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 20 June 2013.

Algaebase taxon LSID: urn:lsid:algaebase.org:taxname:91001