Seasonal Growth, Phenology and Spore Shedding in Polysiphonia platycarpa Børgesen (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) of Visakhapatnam Coast, India

Many investigations on the species of Polysiphonia reveal only the general growth and reproductive periodicity (Conover 1964; Edwards 1970; Coleman and Mathieson 1975; Reynolds and Mathieson 1975; Agadi and Untawale 1978; Kapraun 1978; Mathieson et al. 1981; Yarish and Edwards 1982). No detailed studies were made on the spore producing capacity of Polysiphonia species. Detailed investigations were made on the ecology and physiology of some Ceramiales of the Visakhapatnam coast (Sudhakar 1992) and in this paper, only the growth, phenology and spore shedding of Polysiphonia platycarpa were described. Species of Polysiphonia are also economically important, since Polysiphonia ferulaceae consists of 13-16% of proteins (Dave et al. 1987).