How does Valonia spawn?

[Ken2001]

I'm curious about something. I've seen, on lots of threads and comments about controling bubble algae, the suggestion that if you pop Valonia, you'll release "spores" that will lead to a wider outbreak in your tank. While I'm fairly knowledgable about higher orders of plants and how they propogate, I don't know much about algae propogation. Nevertheless, this doesn't really make sense to me. Is it really true that Valonia can be spread by breaking the algae bubble within the tank?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[horge]

Well yes, Ken, but it's not strictly true that Valonia vesicles release spores when ruptured ---obviously they have to be 'ripe', and a rough, personal rule of thumb is that they are likely reproductive when at least 1/3 their maximum size. Keep in mind that Valonia vesicles are rather smal, so you might as well presume them to ALL be reproductive.

Furthermore, technically half the time, mature vesicles release gametes when ruptured. Boy and girl gametes have to meet up, get busy, and result in a zygote, which then settles a suitable surface to grow on.

The species of this Genus go through an asexual (sporophyte) phase and a sexual (gametophyte phase), which are virtually identical in appearance to the naked eye. These two phases alternate with each generation.

There is a rather sketchy article in the inaugural issue of Reefkeeping which, despite the many typographical errors, still ought to provide some guidance as to what the maximum sizes for various 'bubble algae' are.


hth,
horge

 

[Ken2001]

Horge,

Thanks very much.

Ken