Culture studies on some Florida species of Caulerpa: Morphological responses to reduced illumination

Abstract

The morphological development of three species of Caulerpa, C. sertularioides, C. paspaloides and C. racemosa has been studied in low light culture. The resulting morphologies are described and contrasted with the typical morphologies. Culture forms in all cases were unlike the field forms but each had affinities with other taxa described in the literature. The most important generalized response was a change in the symmetry of the assimilators from radial to bilateral. This response supports an earlier morphologically based theory on the evolutionary relationships among the species of Caulerpa.