CHLOROPHYTA : Ulvales : GayraliaceaeGREEN ALGAE

Monostroma undulatum Wittrock


Description: Thallus up to 25 cms long, membranous and one celled thick. Margin lobed and undulate.

Habitat: Epilithic and epiphytic. In the littoral.

Distribution: The only British record is from the Orkney Islands collected about 1837. Europe: Helgoland, Norway, Faroes and Iceland. Greenland. Atlantic coast of North America: Canada. Further afield: Japan.

Similar Species: Ulva has a thallus two cells thick; Monostroma is one cell thick. Enteromorpha is in general tubular and bounded by a membrane one cell thick which may split or become compressed and appear to be two cells thick.

Key Identification Features:

  • Membraneous, one cell thick.

Distribution Map from NBN: Monostroma undulatum at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Monostroma undulatum at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

WoRMS: Monostroma undulatum at World Register of Marine Species.

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 Morton, O., Keatley, L., Morrow, C.C. & Picton, B.E. (2026). Monostroma undulatum. Wittrock. [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland.
https://habitas.org/mbdp/species.php?item=ZS2810. Accessed on 2026-11-01