Two species of seaweed discovered along India’s coastline
- Category
Environment
- Published
6th Apr, 2021
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Context
A group of marine botanists has traced new species of native seaweed along the coasts of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat and Daman Diu.
About
About the new species discovered
- These species were found in the form of isolated patches in the intertidal regions of the sea.
- Species and its place of discovery
- Hypneaindica and HypneaBullata - Kanyakumari
- Hypneaindica– Gujarat
- HypneaBullata- Daman and Diu.
- Potential use: Hypnea variants of seaweeds can have a good monetary benefit in the food industry as it contains Carrageenan which is a biomolecule commonly used in the food industry.
- It can be a potential raw material for those involved in jelly and ice cream production.
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Seaweed
- Seaweed is a macro-algae that is referred to as thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae.
- The term seaweed includes some types of Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta, and Chlorophytamacroalgae also.
- Significance: Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential habitats for fisheries and other marine species.
- Some other types of seaweed such as planktonic algae play a vital role in capturing carbon and producing up to 90% of Earth's oxygen.
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