Padina sanctae-crucis is a species of brown macroalgae in the family Dictyotaceae.[1] It is a tropical brown algae species native to the south pacific that belongs to the Padina genus. this alga includes sexual reproduction and spore-producing asexual reproduction which is moved with the tide until spores plants itself on a hard rocky substrate. Other habitats include rocks and shell fragments in the shallow sublittoral, seagrass meadows, mangrove roots and coral reefs on tidal flats.[2]

Description edit

Padina sanctae-crucis forms curled, fanlike branches from a single stalk. The plant is about 15 cm tall. Blades are often irregularly split and branched. The upper surfaces of the fans are calcified and whitened, but the rest of the plant is brownish. All the branches are crossed by closely set growth lines.

Padina sanctae-crucis
Scientific classification  
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Dictyotales
Family: Dictyotaceae
Genus: Padina
Species:
P. sanctae-crucis
Binomial name
Padina sanctae-crucis

Locations edit

 
Regions of occurrence

Locations

Padina sanctae-crucis prefers tropical waters and can be found in most of the world's tropical waters. Including Florida, the Caribbean sea, Brazil, and the south pacific. This alga tends to thrive in Rock pools in intertidal to subtidal zones on rocky substrates, especially on reef flats up to 10m in depth.[3]

Uses edit

Since Padina sanctae-crucis is used in food, it is known to be rich in fatty acids, which are an excellent source of nutrients for mammals. There are also extracts of this seaweed that have been found to have anticarcinogenic and cytotoxic activity. For example, an organic extract shows toxicity to the oral epidermoid carcinoma cell line KB with a minimal infective dose of 6.5 μg/ml.[4] Padina sanctae-crucis was also concluded to be an excellent absorbent for removing MV dyes from aqueous solutions.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Padina sanctae-crucis Børgesen, 1914". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  2. ^ Liddle, Larry B. (September 1975). "THE EFFECT OF INTERTIDAL STRESS ON PADINA SANCTAE-CRUCIS (PHAEOPHYTA)1". Journal of Phycology. 11 (3): 327–330. doi:10.1111/j.1529-8817.1975.tb02790.x. S2CID 86824063.
  3. ^ "St. Croix Padina, Padina sanctae-crucis". www.marinelifephotography.com. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  4. ^ Santhanam, Ramasamy (2018). Biology and ecology of pharmaceutical marine plants. Boca Raton. ISBN 978-1-351-18709-1. OCLC 1031885023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Mahini, Reza; Esmaeili, Hossein; Foroutan, Rauf (2018-11-27). "Adsorption of methyl violet from aqueous solution using brown algae Padina sanctae-crucis". Turkish Journal of Biochemistry. 43 (6): 623–631. doi:10.1515/tjb-2017-0333. ISSN 1303-829X.