A biological study of Durvillaea antarctica (Chamisso) Hariot and D ...

CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
I
acid and its derivatives are used ext.ensi in
and in the Northern
several species of
brown algae are harvested
for their content.
and Naylor (1954) and
and (1972) showe.d that the
Moss
content of DU.Y'viZ spp_ is very high - approximately 30-34 9 6 on a
ary basis 0 In 1972 the Kamagawa Chemical (subs
of Hitsubishi tion, Japan) harvested several tonnes of
~ f:com various along the east coast of the South
Island, and E'!ntly sent trial shipments of dried ZZaea to
also encouraged the
industry on the Otago Coast at
of a small harvesting
Point \V'hich operCl.ted until 1974.
This venture on the
feelings by the Ne\'1 Zealand
of
was v iewed vIi th mixed
by the
fraterni who feared that large-scale harvesting of DU1~vil could
be detrimental to the industry, It also led to the
realisation that Ii ttle \..ras known a.bout the
and
Durvillaea compared to that
is known about commercially
brown seaweeds in the Northern
Herriott (1923) and
(1949) had described t.he fmatomy of
D, antarctica from New Zealand, and in 1954 Naylor described the ear
deve of and D. willana germlings. A
brief anatomical of the Australian species, D. potatorum, x.,ras
made (lB93) • ~t Kerguelen, Delepine also
described the development of D. antOX'ctica and in
1969 he c0111mented briefly on the of of this
No detailed accounts of the DurviZ habitat have been PQblished.
This study commenced in mid 1972 with a vie"', to obtaining a
greater
of the and ecology of D. antarctica
and D. wil in New Zealand. It soon becoJne apparent that ll\u~;h
more research on t.he
of DUY'vi Z Zaea ',Jas necessary befOl:.-e
any stndy concerned wi·th the cal of the
ke
01. ~'1i th what. effects
ha.:cves
would have on the
of .,,;:outhern rocky shores.
The main objectives of this
confined t.o the (1) '1'0
were therefore largely
out the taxonomic and