Acetabularia is a pretty ephemeral little beast. It comes and goes, most notably on snail shells actually. I think it might be a tastier macro, and this is one of the few spots they cant graze. I had it turn up on Astrae and chestnut turban shells. The lilly pad stage is the final stage of its growth. The cap is the reproductive spore storehouse (gametangia).
So, spores were probably let loose into your tank when the lily pads disappeared. If conditions were right, and we dont know what right is at this point.. or at least I dont, they may have settled elsewhere in the tank. You might find they pop back up in a few weeks to months.
I have had some contact with a researcher who uses Acetabularia for molecular biology projects.. I'm trying to get her to give me the secrets on how she maintains the colonies long enough for meaningful study, and how she keeps her lines of macro going. Hopefully that will yield useful info someday in the future.
David's pics are awesome.
When we say curly grass, do you mean they form spirals that are vertical? Or.. do the leaves simply arch out horizontally from the base? We might have to leave this one for the pics if you can get them up in a few days.
There is a species of vascular plant that does tolerate low to medium salinity regimes for short periods of time.. Vallisneria americana, or tape grass. A few forms of this will spiral, but I cant recall ever seeing them grow wild myself.
>Sarah
