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REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 55
tapering branchlets; cells .02-8 mm in. diameter, those of the main branches many
times longer than broad.
On stones and covering algæ just below low-water mark. Summer.
Jackson Ferry, N. Y., Harvey; Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe.
One of the longest but at the same time most delicate of the genus. It forms intricately branching tufts,
one or two feet long, attached to stones, or covers with a soft fleece algæ and Zostera growing in still,
shallow bays, like the Little Harbor at Wood’s Holl. It is more or less gelatinous and at once collapses
on being removed from the water and adheres closely to paper in drying. In drying the cells shrivel very
much, and the coloring matter is collected at the ends of the cells, which, in the main branches, are
much longer than broad, and on moistening the cells do not recover their shape as readily as in other
species.
C. GRACILIS, (Griff.) Kütz.
Filaments loosely tufted, 3-12 inches long, irregularly bent, provided at the angles
with rather short branches, which are pectinate, with long recurved or incurved
branchlets; color a yellowish green; cells .04-16 mm in diameter.
On wharves or in muddy pools.
New Haven, Prof. Eaton; Wood’s Holl, Mass.
α. Var. EXPANSA.
Very irregularly branched, forming masses one to two feet in extent.
Muddy pools.
β. Gloucester, Nahant, Mass.
Var. TENUIS, Thuret. (Cl. vadorum, Aresch.)
Branches remote, filaments more slender than in the type, .04-8 mm in diameter.
Growing over Laminariæ.
Gloucester.?
A common and variable species, growing in rather muddy sheltered places and not on exposed spots. In
its typical form it is recognized by its very irregular branches, which are more divergent than in most
other species, and by its pectinate branchlets, which are at times flabellate. The species, although
rather delicate in substance, is much stouter than C. albida or C. glaucescens, and does not adhere well
to paper. The form which we have referred to, var. tennis, Thuret, is doubtful. It formed masses of
indefinite extent on Laminariæ and other algæ below low-water mark off Niles’s Beach, Gloucester.
What we have called var. expansa resembles somewhat C. expansa, Kütz., and like it is found in muddy
places. It. does not, however, form the dense masses of the last-named species, but floats loosely in the
water in shallow places. The ordinary forms of the species are recognized without much difficulty, but
one sometimes meets forms which are long and almost denuded of branches, in which case
determination is difficult.
C. EXPANSA, Kütz.
Filaments of a dull-green color, at first tufted, then matted together, forming
extensive strata; main branches irregularly flexuous, .10-15 mm