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Preface
We find it mind-boggling that since Pacific Seaweeds came out fifteen years ago, close to ten thousand copies have been sold. What is more astounding are the directions seaweed explorations have taken. The Kelp Highway Hypothesis gives us a new view on how the Americas might have been peopled. The discovery of deepwater tropical kelp beds, resulting from a computer model and subsequent field investigation, has introduced us to a new, yet to be described, ecosystem. The advent of molecular analyses has realigned our understanding of seaweed evolutionary relationships and presented us with the enigma of the cryptic species: a genetically unique species otherwise indistinguishable from sibling species. And a new word has entered our vocabulary, umami, the fifth taste, kelp’s gift to gastronomy.
This second edition explores these and other seaweed wonders. The reorganization of the text and the new and expanded illustrations will speed up the resolution of “What species is this and what is interesting about it?” We include more than a hundred new seaweed species to discover. And a whole new group: shore plants. Of course, there was housekeeping. The names of almost forty species from the original Pacific Seaweeds have changed, a testimony to the research activity focussed on this marine group—activity in which Bridgette E. Clarkston (BEC) has been privileged to contribute some small part, to the red seaweeds. The kelps have also undergone changes, one of which hit home for Louis Druehl (LD). Alaria fistulosa, the dragon kelp, was briefly converted to Druehlii fistulosa, only to be sunk in favour of Eualaria fistulosa. Such is life. We hope you will enjoy our efforts and that our new Pacific Seaweeds will enhance your beach experiences.
—Louis Druehl and Bridgette Clarkston, 2016
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Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to this guide. Most photographs were taken by BEC, but many contributed their expertise, including: Gary Saunders, Colin Bates, Dan McDevit, Katy Hind, Mandy Lindeberg, Russ Norberg, W.F. Farnham, Kylee Pawluk, Gerick Bergsma, Angela Zepp, Eric Salomaki, Eric Henry and Rae K. Hopkins. Megan Bassett created the biogeographic figure. This guide is greatly enhanced by its illustrations. Drawings by Ernani G. Menez, which earlier appeared in Professor Robert F. Scagel’s Guide to Common Seaweeds of British Columbia (1967) and his National Museum of Ottawa study of green seaweeds in 1966, have been liberally used with permission. Several illustrations are from Marine Algae of California (1976) by Isabella S. Abbott and George J. Hollenberg, used with the permission of the publishers, Stanford University Press, and by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. The drawing of Fucus spiralis is adapted from W.R. Taylor’s Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America (1962), and Anne Stewart provided the drawing of an adult Macrocystis plant.
The following correspondents have strengthened this guide by their unselfish instruction: Meghann Bruce, Ramona de Graaf, Kyle Demes, Mike Foster, Paul Gabrielson, Katy Hind, Sandra Lindstrom, Steven Manley, Patrick Martone, Dan McDevit, Ole G. Mouritsen, Tom Mumford, Betty Peabody, Amanda Savoie, Norishige Yotsukura and Mike Graham.
Anna O’Keeffe, Peter Robson, Brianna Cerkiewicz, Shirarose Wilensky, Daniela Hajdukovic, Kyla Shauer and the rest of the Harbour Publishing crew polished and improved the readability of the guide. Rae K. Hopkins, Joan Randolph and Stephan Koenig provided LD and BEC with the much-needed spiritual encouragement, served with constructive criticism, to see this project to fruition.
For all of the above, as well as contributors to the original Pacific Seaweeds, we are thankful.
—LD and BEC
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About Seaweeds
“We live on a planet dominated by oceans. As we develop our limited land masses, often converting arable lands into commercial and residential areas and otherwise reducing our ability to support an increasing human population, we will grow more dependent upon ocean resources.”
This opening from the original Pacific Seaweeds is as true now as the day it was written. So too is the statement that we must understand the ocean and its inhabitants in order to wisely develop and sustain our ocean resources. This includes seaweeds: major players in coastal ecosystems, a continental fringe swaying gently in near-shore waters around the world. Seaweeds constitute the nutritional base for many shallow-water food webs and, as the architects of coastal marine meadows and underwater forests, provide homes and shelter for entire communities of associated fishes and invertebrates.
In addition to playing important ecological roles, seaweeds benefit humankind in numerous ways—with great potential for more. They are used for food, industrial
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and scientific chemicals, plant fertilizers and