More seaweed photos, taken a couple of days after the ones in the previous post, when it was overcast and the water was less clear. The photos are not as good, but there are still a lot of interesting species to see. Below some photos showing the diversity of species next and on top of each other. In the last two months, most species have been growing quite a lot. There are quite large patches of Slender-beaded coral weed Jania rubens. Bushy rainbow wrack Cystoseira tamariscifolia plants are completely overgrown with all kinds of epiphytes, seaweeds, sponges and colonial tunicates, and often have a Nursehound egg case attached. 
Next, photos of individual species. First some flat reds: Leafy rose weed Rhodophyllis divaricata, Beautiful fan weed Callophyllis laciniata, Branched hidden ribs Cryptopleura ramosa (probably), the invasive species Devil’s tongue weed Grateloupia turuturu and Under tongue weed Hypoglossum hypoglossoides. After that, two species that look a bit similar: left the reddish Discoid fork weed Polyides rotundus and right Clawed fork weed Furcellaria lumbricalis. The former is one of the most common species (also on the photo above it) but difficult to photograph as it usually sits on the white sand. After that, Juicy whorl weed Chylocladia verticillata. Last, two quite unassuming species: Black scour weed Ahnfeltia plicata and Sea flax weed Stypocaulon scoparium. Identifications made possible using the must-have Seasearch Guide to Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland, David Fenwick’s excellent aphotomarine website (and personal communication) and the good people of the Seaweeds of the NE Atlantic facebook group (any mistakes are my own). 
Tag Archives: Rhodophyllis divaricata
Falmouth Seaweeds: January
As I noticed that the rock pools have started to look really pretty, I have gone out snorkelling four times the last week to photograph seaweeds. Bitterly cold (around 10°C) but worth it! It is my aim to post photo’s taken at the same spot every month this year, let’s see. The first three days the tide was very low, making it more of a lying on the sand rather than actual snorkelling. The sun was out and my main challenge was to get to grips with overexposure, checking histograms and decreasing image brightness. The other main challenge is to not stir the sand up and create ‘marine snow’. It makes a world of difference to actually stick your head underwater and look through the viewfinder instead of lazily only submerging the camera. For now, I have only cropped and adjusted contrast of jpegs using Picasa, but I have also shot in raw format and hope to get more out of the shots in the near future. With help from the excellent Seasearch Guide to Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland and the Seaweeds of the NE Atlantic facebook page some of the species could be identified. 
Above, Osmundea osmunda (probably), which has a very nice blueish (‘glaucus’) tinge (I need to take some close-ups of that next time). In the following photo, a whole tangle of species, mainly Hairy sand weed Cladostephus spongiosus, with Osmundea, Asparagopsis, Bonnemaisonia and Leathesia. Next, another picture of a whole variety of species, I would like to find out what the red epiphyte is. Below some photos of individual species of red seaweeds (mostly not great but it gives an idea of the diversity). First, Leafy rose weed Rhodophyllis divaricata, next Falkenbergia (which is actually not a species but a distinct phase in the life cycle of Harpoonweed Asparagopsis Armata), Berry wart cress Sphaerococcus coronopifolius, Irish moss Chondrus crispus, Beautiful fan weed Callophyllis laciniata, Under tongue weed Hypoglossum hypoglossoides, Chondrus with Falkenbergia and Hypoglossum and Plocamium on top and a small unknown species. You can see that most photos suffer from overexposure (and notice my crude upped contrasts).
The last time I went snorkelling, it was overcast and the tide was higher. I tried a bunch of shots a greater distance away to capture more of an overall impression, but with more water between the subject and the lens the shots become ‘milky’. The next shot of a whole variety of red, green and brown species (with Clawed fork weed Furcellaria lumbricalis in the middle) could have been really nice with clearer water, better framing and correct exposure! The next shot shows Cladostephus and Thong weed Himanthalia elongata on top of a rock covered with Red grape weed Gastroclonium ovatum (also on the last photo). 
An Bollenessor 