1. Iridescent Seaweed

2. Mazzaella Splendens

3. Description
Blades vary in color from green to bluish-purple. Blades often have a split or lobbed shape, and appear iridescent in sunlight.

4. Reproduces
Triphasic life cycle. The male and female gamete-producing reproductive organs broadcast gametes into the water where they fertilize and go through additional portions of this complex life cycle.

5. Endangered
No, seaweed is not endangered. There are many varieties of seaweed and they are all thriving. If the ocean temperatures rise or the water becomes less salty as a result of global warming there is a chance that some seaweed might die out.

6. Size and Location
Size: Blades to 12” (30cm) long, occasionally to 3’(1m).
Location: In rocky, exposed areas, low intertidal zone to water 23’ (7m) deep.

7. Interesting Facts
Food: Absorbs minerals and carbon dioxide directly from the seawater and photosynthesizes using sunlight.
Fun Facts: Good source of carrageenan a substance used as a stabilizer in many products ranging from cottage cheese to printer’s ink to expensive ladies face creams. This seaweed is a perennial that die back in the winter and grow again in the spring.    

8. Interesting Facts
Seaweed name commonly used for the multicellular marine algae . Simpler forms, consisting of one cell (e.g., the diatom ) or of a few cells, are not generally called seaweeds; these tiny plants help to make up plankton. The more highly developed types of seaweed usually have a basal disk, called a holdfast, and a frond of varying length and shape, which often resembles a plant in having stem like and leaf like parts.

9. Iridescent Seaweed