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Name derivation: |
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Saccharina latissima= L. saccharinus:
sugary, as covered with sugar; latissima= L. latus:
broad, wide + issima:
very much so Common names: broadleaf kelp, kelp, oar weed, poor man’s weatherglass, sea
belt, sea tangle, sugar kelp, sugar wrack, & tangle weed Saccharina longicruris: L. longus: long + cruris: legs Common
names: kelp or Atlantic kelp) |
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Classification:
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Saccharina Stackhouse, 1809: There are
50 species of which 21 have been accepted taxonomically.
Order Laminariales; Family Laminariaceae |
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Morphology: |
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Saccharina latissima
has a flattened blade with variable sizes and shapes, which is attached to an
elongated solid stipe. By contrast, S. longicruris
has a hollow stipe. |
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Similar genera: |
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Laminaria |
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Habitat: |
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Saccharina latissima and S. longicruris
are both more common in sheltered open coastal and estuarine sites than Alaria esculenta
and Laminaria digitata
that dominate more exposed habitats. |
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Mariculture: |
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Saccharina japonica (formerly Laminaria japonica) is the
most important economic seaweed in China. Mariculture
on artificial floating rafts started in 1952. More detail on amount of
harvest and value is online.
Saccharina latissima
is currently growing on horizontal lines in a sea farm in Casco Bay ME USA
near Falmouth by Oceans Approved Inc. and sold on the international kelp
market. ‘Kelp Farming Manual’ (Flavin et al. 2013)
is available online. Thanks to Bill Flahive (personal communication) for this information. Polysaccharides
(fucoidans such as fucose,
mannose and galactose) are extracted from cell
walls and used in a variety of food products as thickeners in ice cream and
beverages. They also accumulate heavy metals such a cadmium,
and so are indicators of contamination of seawater as well as potentially
dangerous to ingest. One
of the novel commercial uses is ‘kelp beer’ where the kelp adds flavor,
similar to Scottish ‘kelpie' ale (Williams Brothers Brewing Company, Alloa,
Clackmannanshire, Scotland). In North America ‘kelp stout’ (Tofino Brewing Company, BC Canada); and 'Sea Belt' scotch
ale is produced in Maine (Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast ME USA) the
first batch was served in a pub in Belfast on 15 July 2014. |
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References: |
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Flahive, Bill. Personal Communication. Flavin, K., N. Flavin,
and B. Flahive. 2013. Kelp Farming Manual. A guide
to the processes, techniques, and equipment for farming kelp in New England
Waters. Ocean Approved. Guiry, M.D., and G.M. Guiry 2013. AlgaeBase.
World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway.
http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 16 January 2013. Lane, C.E., C. Mayes, L.D. Druehl and G.W. Saunders 2006. A multi-gene molecular
investigation of the kelp (Laminariales,
Phaeophyceae) supports substantial taxonomic re-organization. Journal of Phycology 42: 493-512. Michel, G., T. Tonon, D. Scornet, J.M. Cock,
and B. Kloareg 2010. The cell wall polysaccharide
metabolism of the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus. Insights into the evolution of
extracellular matrix polysaccharides in Eukaryotes. New Phytologist
199(1):82-97. [online] Reyes-Prieto A, A.P. Weber, and D. Bhattacharya 2007. The
origin and establishment of the plastid in algae and plants. Annual Review of
Genetics 41: 147–168. Stackhouse, J. 1809.
Tentamen marino-cryptogamicum,
ordinem novum; in genera
et species distributum, in Classe
XXIVta Linnaei sistens. Mémoires de la Société
Imperiale des Naturalistes
de Moscou 2: [50]-97. Taylor, W. R. 1957.
Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America. Revised edition.
University of Michigan Press., Ann Arbor, ix + 509 pp. |