01. Enhalus acoroides

[halophila]

I am going to start a series of SE Asia seagrass species threads. These will be used to (1)provide plant facts, habitat information, growing data and (2)serve as a place to discuss and exchange the information about this species. All contributions to discussion, sharing experiences and even habitat photo are more than welcome.

The first one is Enhalus acoroides. The following are three young seedlings of Enhalus acoroides:

[slowECUdiver]

thank you for starting this thread, halophila. i will be following with keen interest!

[graveyardworm]

I'm in, nice roots on those puppies. How deep would the substrate need to be, and how deep would the tank need to be. Is it a shallow water species?
How can we get some of that stuff over here?

[Samala]

Dont forget these are seedling photos. Enhalus gets enormous. Pic from Poppe-images.com.

Enhalus is in the Hydrocharitaceae family along with Thalassia and Halophila. Its interesting how the smallest and the largest of the seagrass species/genus were taxonomically grouped together.

>Sarah

[halophila]

Originally posted by graveyardworm
I'm in, nice roots on those puppies. How deep would the substrate need to be, and how deep would the tank need to be. Is it a shallow water species?
How can we get some of that stuff over here?

Graveyardworm, as you can see from the above photo, at least 8-9cm deep mud bed is required to host all the roots. Another 40cm of water depth is needed to show the elegance of their leaves. Yes, it is mainly a shallow water species.

I got mine from a supplier in China. I know another Philippine supplier which sell them too.


http://www.marinefauna-cebu.com/listovr.html

[Samala]

How shallow is shallow? 5-10 meters? More? I've never been swimming in the Pacific (since the chilly California coast and the kelp forests dont count) so I'd love to know.

>Sarah

[halophila]

Sarah, hehe 10 meters to me is very deep indeed, especially in the muddy estuarine region . How about this, consider this as an "intertidal estuarine species which may coexist with Mangrove". This sounds less misleading then "shallow", right?

[Samala]

Yes, thats very helpful. Its interesting you find it in such a highly active environment like an intertidal area. I would think, since its such a large species from what I've seen, it would settle in more stable, continuously 'wet', areas in deeper water. Thalassia does this.

UHawaii has a great page for Enhalus here.

Great photo of intertidal Enhalus:


>Sarah

[halophila]

Originally posted by Samala
Yes, thats very helpful. Its interesting you find it in such a highly active environment like an intertidal area. I would think, since its such a large species from what I've seen, it would settle in more stable, continuously 'wet', areas in deeper water. Thalassia does this.

If I am only allow to select one major reason to explain this absence of it in deeper water, I will put my bet on sunlight.

UHawaii has a great page for Enhalus here.

>Sarah [/B]

Yeah! links are definitely what we needed for this species specific thread!

Here comes the page of Enhalus in the seagrass heaven, Chek Jawa, Singapore.

http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/g106.htm

[ClamIAm]

You say that this is the largest genus of seagrass, but I thought that a specimen of Posidonia oceanica was found to be the largest living thing currently alive. Maybe I am wrong about this?

[Samala]

Clam, I'm guessing you're referring to the finding off the island of Ibiza that a rhizome section of Posidonia oceanica was reported at 8km long and covering a considerable amount of land. There's a difference between an individual plant/shoot of seagrass and its height, and the size that the overall rhizome segment can attain. I was referring to the first, the height.

Enhalus is reported from 12 to 60". Strangely, I cant seem to find my notes for P. oceanica at the moment, I remember reports at or just above one meter though, ~40" leaf lengths. So perhaps there is some wiggle room for interpretation over which genus is the largest.

>Sarah

[halophila]

Originally posted by ClamIAm
You say that this is the largest genus of seagrass, but I thought that a specimen of Posidonia oceanica was found to be the largest living thing currently alive. Maybe I am wrong about this?

ClamIAm, I didn't notice that too. I thought that she was refering it as the largest in Hydrocharitaceae family . In that sense the statment is true. Enhalus is also one of tallest among the tropical species.

The tallest one in tropical could be Thalassodendron ciliatum . According to the info provided by my supplier, this one can reach 2m in height. It is not possible to ship them without breaking the stems. That's why I give up the idea to import them.

The Posidonia oceanica clone you and Sarah refered to should be undoubtely the largest, in terms of biomass.

[halophila]

Originally posted by Samala
Clam, I'm guessing you're referring to the finding off the island of Ibiza that a rhizome section of Posidonia oceanica was reported at 8km long and covering a considerable amount of land. There's a difference between an individual plant/shoot of seagrass and its height, and the size that the overall rhizome segment can attain. I was referring to the first, the height.

Enhalus is reported from 12 to 60". Strangely, I cant seem to find my notes for P. oceanica at the moment, I remember reports at or just above one meter though, ~40" leaf lengths. So perhaps there is some wiggle room for interpretation over which genus is the largest.

>Sarah

Sarah, this Zostera doesn't fit in my aquarium, nor I am planning to find any source of it

http://www.nature.shizugawa.miyagi.j...aulescens2.jpg , image from Shizugawa Nature Center, Japan.

Zostera caulescens, each tile is around 30cm long. Image from Mie Univeristy, Japan.
http://soruipc2.bio.mie-u.ac.jp/sour...atiamamo03.jpg


A temperate species from Japan, tallest record reaches 7m in height. It seems that it occupys part of the kelp's niche over there, or is it just superficial resemblance?

[ClamIAm]

I guess I didn't realize that the Posidonia was only the rhizome that was so long. In that case, it makes more sense.

[Samala]

Good grief thats a tremendous plant halophila! A bit similar to Thalassodendron in that it has a long 'stem' leading up towards the actual leaves. Interesting. I really cant wait for my second seagrass biology book to come.. then you guys wont catch me posting mistakes about whats biggest!

>Sarah

[graveyardworm]

When do you suppose we'll see the next installment in the series, have you decided on a species?