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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: red alga
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification:
This is a filamentous macroalga with a small thallus that grows in splash and intertidal zones of freshwater and marine environments. In general the early winter form is dark red but by spring it can be rust to yellow in color. There are potentially unbranched and branched forms from different phases of this species’ diplobiontic life history. Both phases can produce spores. Only asexual plants occur in the Great Lakes (Nicholls and Veith 1978; Sheath and Cole 1984; Graham and Graham 1987; Jackson 1988; Mills et al. 1993).
Unbranched filaments in tufts. Uniseriate at base, multiseriate above with protoplasts separate in a firm gelatinous sheath. Stellate chloroplasts.
Size varies greatly depending on the population. In the Great Lakes, spores are around 15.5 µm in diameter and asexual filaments are around 75 µm in diameter (Sheath and Cole 1984). For info on other regions see Sheath and Cole (1984, 1985).
Size: 75 microns in diameter
Native Range: B. atropurpurea has a widespread amphi-Atlantic range, which includes the Atlantic coast of North America from where it could have been introduced to the Great Lakes drainage (Mills et al. 1993; Tittley and Neto 2005).
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Interactive maps: Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean
Nonindigenous Occurrences: B. atropurpurea was first recorded from Lake Erie in 1964. During the 1960s–1980s it was recorded from Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Simcoe (part of the Lake Ontario drainage), and Lake Huron. There are some records from the 1940s in the Lake Superior drainage but they were probably misidentifications or records of failed establishments (Kishler and Taft 1970; Lin and Blum 1976; Lin and Blum 1977; Damann 1979; Jackson 1985; Mills et al. 1993).
Ecology: B. atropurpurea has been recorded from many regions around the world in marine and freshwater environments from Asia to Antarctica, Europe, and North America. Experiments indicate that plants of saltwater origin can typically be transferred to freshwater environments and flourish because some cells within the thallus appear resistant to large salinity fluctuations and can develop into new plants. B. atropurpurea is frequently tolerant to warm water, and the upper survival temperature can vary between 16–31ºC depending on the population in question. There may be differences in ability to grow at different temperatures according to whether plants are asexual or sexual (Reed 1980; Graham and Graham 1987; Ramirez and Mueller 1991; Bischoff and Wiencke 1993; Bischoff-Baesmann and Wiencke 1996; Gargiulo et al. 1996; Clayton et al. 1997; Woolcott and King 1998; Huang 2002; Notoya and Iijima 2003; Hanyuda et al. 2004; Xie and Ling 2004; Kim and Ahn 2005).
Genetics and life cycles of B. atropurpurea are complicated. It produces both asexual and sexual plants in marine environments. In North America, plants from freshwater environments are all monosporic and asexual with 3 chromosomes. When marine plants also exhibit 3 chromosomes, the 3rd chromosome is larger than that found in freshwater plants. This indicates that marine and freshwater plants may not actually be conspecific. Populations along the North American coast have complex genetics with different numbers of chromosomes and comprise sexual or monosporic plants. In one known case from Sicily, a freshwater population can exhibit both sexual and asexual forms. Finally, there are genetic differences between northern hemispheric and Australian isolates of B. atropurpurea, indicating that the taxonomy may not be synonymous (Gargiulo et al. 1998, 2001; Woolcott and King 1998; Muller et al. 2003; Notoya and Iijima 2003).
Marine asexual plants, which tolerate osmotic stress well, are likely the source of the asexual, monospore-producing populations that lack alternation of generations in the Great Lakes. B. atropurpurea is often recorded from regions of the Great Lakes that are disturbed by higher salt concentrations than normal. Moreover, Great Lakes freshwater parent plants can produce offspring that adapt to 2.6% salt water in just three generations. B. atropurpurea occurs in the Great Lakes in the littoral splash zone from just at or below the waterline to a maximum +1 m on exposed permanent rocky substrates where such native species as Cladophora and Ulothrix are unable to survive due to extremes in temperature, irradiance, and desiccation. B. atropurpurea grows best at 15–20ºC and produces the most monospores at around 15ºC and 16 hour day length in the Great Lakes. It produces highest biomass in spring and fall and persists through the summer at low biomass. In Lake Simcoe, B. atropurpurea occurs at maximum “vitality” in early June (Damann 1979; Sheath and Cole 1980; Jackson 1985, 1988; Graham and Graham 1987; Mills et al. 1993).
Means of Introduction: B. atropurpurea was very likely transferred on ship hulls or in ballast water to the Great Lakes (Mills et al. 1993). It could have come from the Atlantic coast via the St. Lawrence Seaway (Graham and Graham 1987).
Status: Established where recorded but not in Lake Superior. The distribution in Lake Simcoe is limited (Jackson 1985).
Impact of Introduction:
A) Realized: B. atropurpurea can be a biofouling organism and is now one of the dominant attached filamentous algae in the littoral zone of many regions of the Great Lakes. It has not displaced other filamentous algae, but does occupy all the space higher in the splash zone that natives do not normally fill (Graham and Graham 1987; Jackson 1988; Edlund et al. 2000).
B) Potential: In the Great Lakes, native Cladophora has a cellulose cell wall and is branched with a high surface area to biomass ratio. B. atropurpurea has a mucilaginous cell wall and is not branched. Such structural differences influence the composition of associated epiphytic and macroinvertebrate communities. C. glomerata in Lake Michigan supports 103 more epiphytes than B. atropurpurea, which instead supports many bacteria. Moreover, B. atropurpurea has been recorded to support only larval Chironomidae, while native Cladophora can support more macroinvertebrates from different taxa. B. atropurpurea, by supporting different communities than native Cladophora, may exert an impact on food webs in the Great Lakes (Lowe et al. 1982; Chilton et al. 1986).
Remarks:
References
Bischoff, B. and C. Wiencke. 1993. Temperature requirements for growth and survival of macroalgae from Disko Island (Greenland). Helgolaender Meeresuntersuchungen 47(2):167-191.
Bischoff-Baesmann, B. and C. Wiencke. 1996. Temperature requirements for growth and survival of Antarctic Rhodophyta. Journal of Phycology 32(4):525-535.
Chilton, E. W., R. L. Lowe, and K. M. Schurr. 1986. Invertebrate communities associated with Bangia atropurpurea and Cladophora glomerata in western Lake Erie, USA, Canada. Journal of Great Lakes Research 12(3):149-153.
Clayton, M. N., C. Wiencke, and H. Kloeser. 1997. New records of temperate and sub-Antarctic marine benthic macroalgae from Antarctica. Polar Biology 17(2):141-149.
Damann, K. E. 1979. Occurrence of the red alga Bangia atropurpurea new record in Lake Ontario. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 106(1):43-44.
Edlund, M. B., C. M. Taylor, C. L. Schelske, and E. F. Stoermer. 2000. Thalassiosira baltica (Grunow) Ostenfeld (Bacillarophyta), a new exotic species in the Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57:610-615.
Gargiulo, G. M., F. Culoso, G .Genovese, and F. De Masi. 1996. Karyology and effects of temperature and photoperiod on the life-history of Bangia atropurpurea (Roth) C. Ag. (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) from the Mediterranean Sea. Cryptogamie Algologie 17(1):45-55.
Gargiulo, G. M., G. Genovese, F. Culoso, and F. De Masi. 1998. Karyotype analysis of marine and freshwater populations of Bangia (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) in Italy. Phycologia 37(6):405-411.
Gargiulo, G. M., G. Genovese, M. Morabito, F. Culoso, and F. De Masi. 2001. Sexual and asexual reproduction in a freshwater population of Bangia atropurpurea (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) from eastern Sicily (Italy). Phycologia 40(1):88-96.
Graham, J. M. and L. E. Graham. 1987. Growth and reproduction of Bangia atropurpurea Roth C. Ag. Rhodophyta from the Laurentian Great Lakes. Aquatic Botany 38(3-4):317-332.
Hanyuda, T., Y. Suzawa, S. Arai, K. Ueda, and S. Kumano. 2004. Phylogeny and taxonomy of freshwater Bangia (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) in Japan. Journal of Japanese Botany 79(4):262-268.
Huang, S.-F. 2002. Temporal and spatial variation of benthic marine algae in northeastern Taiwan. Journal of the National Taiwan Museum 55(2):9-20.
Jackson, M. B. 1985. Note. The red alga Bangia in Lake Simcoe. Journal of Great Lakes Research 11(2):179-181.
Jackson, M. B. 1988. The dominant attached filamentous algae of Georgian Bay, the North Channel, and eastern Lake Huron, Canada. Field ecology and biomonitoring potential during 1980. Hydrobiologia 163:149-172.
Kim, Y. H. and J. K. Ahn. 2005. Ecological characteristics of marine algae communities at the discharge canals of three nuclear power plants on the east coast of Korea. Algae 20(3):217-224.
Kishler, J. and C. E. Taft. 1970. Bangia atropurpurea in western Lake Erie. Ohio Journal of Science 70(1):56-57.
Lin, C. K. and J. L. Blum. 1976. Bangia a recent invader of the St Lawrence Great Lakes. Journal of Phycology 12(suppl.):19-20.
Lin, C. K. and J. L. Blum. 1977. Recent invasion of a red alga Bangia atropurpurea in Lake Michigan, USA. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 34(12):2413-2416.
Lowe, R. L, B. H. Rosen, and J. C. Kingston. 1982. A comparison of epiphytes on Bangia atropurpurea Rhodophyta and Cladophora glomerata Chlorophyta from northern Lake Michigan, USA. Journal of Great Lakes Research 8(1):164-168.
Mills, E. L., J. H. Leach, J. T. Carlton, and C. L. Secor. 1993. Exotic species in the Great Lakes: a history of biotic crises and anthropogenic introductions. Journal of Great Lakes Research 19(1):1-54.
Muller, K. M., K. M. Cole, and R. G. Sheath. 2003. Systematics of Bangia (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) in North America. II. Biogeographical trends in karyology: chromosome numbers and linkage with gene sequence phylogenetic trees. Phycologia 42(3):209-219.
Nicholls, H. W. and G. M. Veith. 1978. Development of Bangia atropurpurea. Phytomorphology 28(3):322-328.
Notoya, M. and N. Iijima. 2003. Life history and sexuality of archeospore and apogamy of Bangia atropurpurea (Roth) Lyngbye (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) from Fukaura and Enoshima, Japan. Fisheries Science (Tokyo) 69(4):799-805.
Ramirez, C. M. E. and D. G. Mueller. 1991. New records of benthic marine algae from Easter Island, South Pacific Ocean. Botanica Marina 34(2):133-137.
Reed, R. H. 1980. On the conspecificity of marine and fresh water Bangia in Britain, UK. British Phycological Journal 15(4):411-416.
Sheath, R. G. and K. M. Cole. 1984. Systematics of Bangia Rhodophyta in North America. 1. Biogeographic trends in morphology. Phycologia 23(3):383-396.
Sheath, R. G. and K. M. Cole. 1980. Distribution of salinity adaptations of Bangia atropurpurea Rhodophyta a putative migrant into the Laurentian Great Lakes, USA. Journal of Phycology 16(3):412-420.
Sheath, R. G., K. L. Vanalstyne, and K. M. Cole. 1985. Distribution, seasonality, and reproductive phenology of Bangia atropurpurea Rhodophyta in Rhode Island USA. Journal of Phycology 21(2):297-303.
Tittley, I and A. I. Neto. 2005. The marine algal (seaweed) flora of the Azores: additions and amendments. Botanica Marina 48(3):248-255.
Woolcott, G. W. and R. J. King. 1998. Porphyra and Bangia (Bangiaceae, Rhodophyta) in warm temperate waters of eastern Australia: morphological and molecular analyses. Phycological Research 46(2):111-123.
Xie, S. and Y. Ling. 2004. A taxonomic study of freshwater red algae from Shanxi Province, North China. Xibei Zhiwu Xuebao 24(8):1489-1492.
Author: Rebekah M. Kipp
Contributing Agencies: 
NOAA - GLERL
Revision Date: 6/20/2007 Citation for this information:
Rebekah M. Kipp. 2009. Bangia atropurpurea. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=1700> Revision Date: 6/20/2007
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