BIOTIC Species Information for Zostera marina
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| Researched by | Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters | Data supplied by | MarLIN |
| Refereed by | Dr Leigh Jones | ||
| Taxonomy | |||
| Scientific name | Zostera marina | Common name | Common eelgrass |
| MCS Code | None | Recent Synonyms | None |
| Phylum | Anthophyta | Subphylum | |
| Superclass | Class | Liliopsida | |
| Subclass | Order | Potamogetonales | |
| Suborder | Family | Zosteraceae | |
| Genus | Zostera | Species | marina |
| Subspecies | |||
| Additional Information | Other common names include, wigeon grass, broad leaved grass wrack, marlee, sedge and slitch. Perennial populations show a seasonal changes in leaf growth, the long leaves found in summer are replaced by shorter, slow growing leaves in winter. The morphological characteristics, especially leaf width may vary with environmental conditions (Phillips & Menez 1988). In the UK literature Zostera marina is distinguished from Zostera angustifolia on the basis of morphology. However, outside the UK most authors consider Zostera angustifolia to be a phenotypic variant of Zostera marina. To avoid confusion only data relating to Zostera marina is presented. | ||
| Taxonomy References | Hartog den, 1970, Phillips & Menez, 1988, Davison & Hughes, 1998, Guiry, 2000, NBN, 2002, | ||
BIOTIC - Biological Traits Information Catalogue
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