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PHYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Cystoseira is one of the most widely distributed genera of the Fucales order and provides an essential habitat for many epiphytes, invertebrates, fish, and even humans.

DISTRIBUTION

Global
Although the species C. osmundacea seems restricted to the Pacific Ocean, the genus Cystoseira can be found throughout the world. Cystoseira is one of two of the most widely distributed fucalean genera across both hemispheres, the other genus being Sargassum. Cystoseira is found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in warmer temperate areas like the Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Some species of Cystoseira are even found in South Africa.

Regional
Cystoseira osmundacea occurs all along the eastern border of the Pacific Ocean, from Washington in the north to Baja in the south.

Local
Cystoseira osmundacea needs a hard, rocky substratum, a well-illuminated habitat, and cannot withstand much desiccation. Thus an ideal habitat for this alga would be the sublittoral rocky sea floor, although some specimens can be found in deep rocky tide pools (one such alga lives in a deep rock pool along the shore at Hopkins Marine Station). Several studies have observed the distributions of C. osmundacea in its environment, and the pattern that emerges is that of high abundances of Cystoseira between four and eight meters depth, with an abrupt drop in abundance past ten meters depth. Plants tend not to be abundant in the shallowest areas. Lower abundances in deep water may be a function of diminishing light, and the absence of Cystoseira in shallow waters may be a function of severe wave force during those violent winter storms. Although some plants do occur past ten meters, their growth tends to be stunted.

COMMUNITY
Along the California coast, Cystoseira osmundacea tends to form mixed surface canopies with the giant kelp: Macrocystis pyrifera. These dense stands of high productivity provide sustenance for many herbivorous invertebrates associated with the kelp forests.

The structure of the numerous tall alga and their associated surface canopies provide a unique habitat for many marine organisms. The canopies provide protection from strong irradience for understory algae, including germlings of the larger algae, as well as diminishing water flow. The canopy can serve as a foraging area for many invertebrates, as well as provide protection from predation.

Many species of fish are associated with these stands of seaweed canopy, either for their camouflage value, or for the high productivity contributing to such tasty munchies as invertebrates and herbivorous fishes. In experimental removals of Cystoseira canopies, drastic losses of habitat diversity resulted, illustrating Cystoseira's importance in maintaining habitat diversity as a habitat-forming species. Thus, Cystoseira is a species important to divers and fishermen as well!

RECRUITMENT
Because Cystoseira's propagules are diploid, they can disperse and develop without worrying too much about a dilution factor, so one might think that recruitment for C. osmundacea would be high. In fact, it seems that Cystoseira actually has very low recruitment, and upon inspecting the conditions required for germination of a diploid propagule, one can easily see why.