Cladostephus spongiosus (Hudson) C Agardh

Description: Fairly stiffly branched fronds growing from a discoid holdfast, covered with small branchlets arranged in whorls. Maximum length usually about 15 cms.

Habitat: Common. Mainly epilithic in rock pools of the mid-littoral to upper sublittoral.

Distribution: Widespread around the British Isles from the Shetlands to the Channel Islands. Europe: Azores, Portugal, Atlantic coasts of Spain and France, Baltic Sea, Norway, Faroes and Iceland. Atlantic coast of North America: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Loong Island. Further afield: west coast of Greenland in Baffin Bay, Canary Islands, Australia and Tasmania.

Key Identification Features:

• Whorls of branchlets very close together in forma spongiosus, close but distinct in forma verticillatus.

Distribution Map from BioMar data for Ireland - Google Earth map:  download this placemark (not got Google Earth installed?)

Distribution Map from NBN: JNCC MNCR Seasearch data - Grid map : Interactive map : National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.