Prasiola crispa

{{Short description|Species of seaweed}} {{Speciesbox |taxon = Prasiola crispa | image = Prasiola crispa.jpg | image_alt = "Prasiola crispa" found in central Queen Maud Land, Antarctica | image_caption = ''Prasiola crispa'' found in central Queen Maud Land, Antarctica | authority =(Lightfoot) Kützing 1843 | synonyms = {{collapsible list| *''Ulva crispa''Lightfoot 1777 *''Ulva terrestris'' Roth 1797 *''Schizogonium crispatum'' Kützing 1843 *''Schizogonium parietinum'' Kützing 1843 *''Hormidium parietinum'' (Kützing) Kützing 1845 *''Prasiola rothii'' Kützing 1845 *''Prasiola orbicularis'' Kützing 1845 *''Prasiola antarctica'' Kützing 1849 *''Schizogonium laetevirens var. crispatum'' (Kützing) Kützing 1849 *''Prasiola rothii'' var. ''falklandica'' Kützing 1849 *''Prasiola falklandica'' (Kützing) Kützing 1855 *''Prasiola georgica'' Reinsch 1890 *''Prasiola crispa'' subsp. ''terrestris'' Børgesen 1902 *''Prasiola crispa'' var. ''aspera'' West & G.S.West 1911 *''Prasiola crispa'' subsp. ''antarctica'' (Kützing) Knebel 1935 *''Mastodia antarctica'' (Kützing) C.W.Dodge 1948}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name="algaebase" /> }}

'''''Prasiola crispa''''' is a small terrestrial green alga. It has been recorded world-wide mostly from cold-temperate to polar regions.

== Taxonomy == The species, first described as ''Ulva crispa'' Lightfoot, is the type of the genus ''Prasiola.''<ref name="algaebase" /> A lectotype was nominated for the species, the type location of which was provided in accompanying notation as walls that faced north and were favoured as urinals.<ref name="algaebase" />

The specific epithet is said to translate as "crisped", a reference to the irregular convolutions of the species.<ref name="algaebase" />

==Description== This is a small green alga growing to about 6 cm long. The frond is round in shape, flattened. Generally one cell thick, the cells are arranged in rows or in groups of four.<ref name="Burrows" /><ref name="Bunker" />

It seems to be an important food source for Antarctic collembolans.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=272}}

The species has been used a model for the study of the effects of high intensities of UV radiation on photosynthesis.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Seckbach|first=Joseph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHevPVcOVVYC&dq=Prasiola+crispa&pg=PA189|title=Algae and Cyanobacteria in Extreme Environments|date=2007-09-18|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-6112-7|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=181}}

==Reproduction== Reproduction is by akinetes and aplanospores.<ref name="Burrows"/>

==Distribution== Recorded world-wide mostly from cold-temperate to polar regions,<ref name="algaebase"/> e.g. from Iceland,<ref Name="NÍ1996">Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History] (1996). ''[http://utgafa.ni.is/valistar/valisti_1.pdf Válisti 1: Plöntur.]'' (in Icelandic) Reykjavík: Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands.</ref> the British Isles including the Isle of Man, New Zealand, Japan and the Pacific shores of North America.<ref name="algaebase"/><ref name="Burrows" /> In Antarctica, the species lives near penguin colonies.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=593}}

==Conservation status== In Iceland, it is red listed as a vulnerable species (VU).<ref Name="NÍ1996"/>

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="algaebase">{{cite web |title=''Prasiola crispa'' (Lightfoot) Kützing :: Algaebase |url=http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=182 |website=www.algaebase.org |access-date=24 May 2019}}</ref> <ref name="Burrows">Burrows. E.M.1991. ''Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 2 Chlorophyta.'' Natural History Museum Publications {{ISBN|0-565-00981-8}}</ref> <ref name="Bunker">Bunker, F.StP.D., Brodie, J.A., Maggs, C.A. and Bunker, A.R.2017. ''Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.'' Second Edition. Wild Nature Press, Plymouth, UK.{{ISBN|978-0-9955673-3-7}}</ref> }}

Category:Prasiolales Category:Seaweeds Category:Protists described in 1777 Category:Lichen photobionts Category:Terrestrial algae