c. taxifolia

[tunaluver]

i have what appears to be c. taxifolia growing in my overflows.. i have no idea where it came from as none of my recent additions have had any kind of algae at all on them. is this going to be a problem. i know it would be a pain to try to get it out so i dont want to if its ok

[ClamIAm]

Any species of Caulerpa can grow pretty fast, so if its a reef tank you may want to try to control it or it can outgrow your corals.

[Plantbrain]

It might be hard to tell if it is really not C mexicana, the tip should alert you which is which.
You can pick it off fairly easily.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[mastou]

Originally posted by Plantbrain
It might be hard to tell if it is really not C mexicana, the tip should alert you which is which.
You can pick it off fairly easily.

Regards,
Tom Barr

This page shows different Caulerpa species, but I don't know if it always are as easy to differentiate species as the pictures suggest.

/Magnus

[Plantbrain]

Originally posted by mastou
This page shows different Caulerpa species, but I don't know if it always are as easy to differentiate species as the pictures suggest.

/Magnus

Refer to Littler and Littler(2000) for a reference to the morphology for the tips and branchlets.

I've cultivated all the species on these listings. There is distinct morphological differences and growth patterns between these species.
C mexicana is fairly common in the hobby, unless you have a specific desire or collected it, it's not likely/hopefully C taxifolia.

C mexicana tends to have wider brachlets and is typically a more aggressive grower in warmer reef tanks.

You can see the difference fairly well here:
http://www.sccat.net/banned_species.php

Regards,
Tom Barr

[mastou]

Thanks, from both your and my link it seems like the most common Caulerpa species in Denmark is C. taifolia:



/Magnus