Morphological studies of marine macroalgae at Sri Rusa beach, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Norhayati Daud

Abstract

An attempt was made to record the biodiversity and morphological characteristics of marine macroalgae within the littoral and sublittoral zones at Sri Rusa beach, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia. Samples collected during low tides consisted a total of nine species represented by three divisions, six of which were from the Chlorophyta, two from the Phaeophyta and one species of the Rhodophyta. Among the dominant species commonly found in this study area were the Phaeophytes Sargassum polycystum C. Agardh and Padina minor Yamada. For the division Chlorophyta, the genus Caulerpa was the largest, represented by five species, namely C. lentillifera, C. microphysa, C. prolifera, C. racemosa and C. sertulariodes. The genera Cladophora from Chlorophyta and Acantophora from Rhodophyta were each represented by one species, namely Cladophora sp. and Acantophora specifera. Most of the macroalgae found in the littoral and sublittoral zones were attached to sand and rock as their substrates. The presence of dead and living corals provide additional habitat. Descriptions of the general morphology of these macroalgae are presented. Keywords biodiversity, chlorophyta, macroalgae, phaeophyta, rhodophyta

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