Dictyosphaeria cavernosa

(Forsskal) Borgesen

Green bubble algae, Green sea balls

ValoniaceaeSeaweed

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(c) Susan J. Hewitt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Susan J. Hewitt

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(c) Stephanie Michelle Soto, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Algae, Seaweed

The algae/seaweed is consumed as a minor food.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows near coral reefs.

Africa, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central America, China, Cuba, East Africa, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Haiti, Hawaii, Hispaniola, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Middle East, Mozambique, North Africa, North America, Pacific, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Indies, Yemen,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Bhutan, Botswana, Belize, Canada, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Micronesia, Gabon, Grenada, Georgia, French Guiana, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Comoros, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Mexico, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Palau, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, El Salvador, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Tonga, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Venezuela, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A tropical seaweed from the Valoniaceae family that grows near coral reefs, characterized by its distinctive appearance as a mass of small green balls.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Dictyosphaeria cavernosa is a species of green algae (class Ulvophyceae) in the family Siphonocladaceae, one of the three species in this family. Its common name is green bubble seaweed. Dictyospharea cavernosa is multicellular with multiple bumps or bubbles on the surface. Dictyosphaeria cavernosa is hollow in contrast to its sister species D. versluysii of the same appearance which is solid. It grows about 12cm in diameter and possesses a green-yellow color while young.

Other Information

A minor food.

Notes

There are about 9 Dictyosphaeria species.

References (5)

Heiba, H. I. et al, 1997 Fatty acid composition of twelve algae from the coastal zones of Qatar. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 51:27-34
http://www.seavegetables.com
Womersley, H.B. S. & Bailey, A., 1970, Marine algae of the Solomon Islands. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B. Biological Sciences 259:257-352
www.algaebase.org
Zemke-White, W. L. & Ohno, M., 1999, World seaweed utilisation: An end-of-century summary. Journal of Applied Phycology 11: 369-376