When you think of the Florida keys most people think of colorful fish, corals and tropical creatures. They very well have these but some of the most important primary producers driving the ecosystems are often overlooked. THE ALGAE! More specifically the macroalgae, have three main phyla, chlorophyta (green), Heterokontophyta (Brown), and Rhodophyta (red), differentiated by their pigments and their storage reserves. One genus of Heterokontophyta was the Sargussum, where we observed two species in almost every site, Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans. Sargassum derives from the Sargasso Sea off the coast of the eastern United States circulating in a large gyre, accumulating a hotspot of breeding and spawning species, including some threatened and endangered species. The sargassum act as a transporter for these juvenile species and provide them with shelter and refuge as they travel through the east coast of the united states all the way up to cape cod. Sargassum acts as a good refuge because certain species have adapted to camouflage having the same skin color and morphologically mimicking the algae. Sargassum contains air filled bladders to maintain buoyancy and travel the long distances housing these hitch hiking species. Some species that rely on sargassum for dispersion include the sargassum fish, crab seahorseand many many more! So in the end without this so called boring floating algae the species diversity of all of eastern America would be minimal. So next time your picking a sargassum out of your hair or swim shorts take a minute to think of all the diversity it brings to this earth!
And one last note, DONT TOUCH THE FIRE SPONGE!
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