Marine Algae

The Marine Algal Vegetation of St. Martin, St. Eustatius and Saba

Although algology deals with a large group of plants, widespread and of great morphological diversity, the history of this branch of botany is fairly young. Linnaeus (1753) listed in his Species Plantarum under the heading “Cryptogamia — Algae” only five genera of plants are still accepted as algae at the present time. Under the same heading, he also described a number of liverworts, lichens and sponges, and a few other things.

During the last few decades, however, algological knowledge has increased to such an extent that it must be considered impossible to cover the whole field of phycology in one general work. Fortunately, from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we have many local algal floras, a survey of which has been published by Taylor (1959b).

The history of algology, especially for the West Indies, has been treated at length by Taylor (1960) in his large and comprehensive work Marine algae of the eastern tropical and subtropical coasts of the Americas. After a stay at the Dry Tortugas Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington during the summer months of 1926—1928, Taylor published many articles and papers on marine algae from most parts of the Caribbean. Nevertheless, only a few places have been thoroughly investigated. 

The richest development of algae is found in the sublittoral region. Mostly in its uppermost part remarkable algal vegetation of short, closely branched, moss-like plants have developed. Most species of this vegetation may also be observed in deeper, more quiet water, where they are much better developed. A number of species are found exclusively in exposed places. Very abundant at the same level is the urchin Echinometra lucunter, which has its lower limit at a depth of 45—50 cm. When a lot of sand is carried by the waves, species such as Chondria tenuissima and Digenea simplex are abundant. Much coral, especially Millepora alcicornis, may be found as high as the uppermost part of the sublittoral region

The total number of species (218) is considerably lower than that given by Borgesen for the Virgin Islands. Several reasons may be indicated to explain this difference. Our samples were taken by walking along the coast, or by swimming and diving; they only include specimens from a rather narrow and shallow strip along the shore. Borgesen, however, also got samples from a greater depth. He visited the Virgin Islands several times and was able to pay special attention to difficult groups. Furthermore, much attention was given by him to very small epiphytes, for instance, the genus Acrochaetium, of which several new species were described. Our investigation confirms the conclusions by Taylor (1955). The Caribbean marine flora is an exceedingly rich one. After the elimination of early and ill-described species still, 790 well-defined species are known.

The study of the extensive collection of marine algae collected in the Netherlands Antilles during our stay in 1957/58 was started with the material from the islands of St. Martin, St. Eustatius, and Saba (Lesser Antilles). The algal vegetation of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao will be treated in separate publications. The book contents describe below:

  • Introduction
  • Habitat Factors
  • Survey of the Literature on the Algal Vegetations in the Caribbean
  • Survey of the Observations on the Algal Vegetations of St. Martin, St. Eustatius, and Saba
  • Summary and Discussion
Date
1968
Data type
Book
Theme
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Saba
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author
Image

Plants and Lichens of Saba. A Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden.

Saba is a five square mile island with about 1200 permanent inhabitants located off the coast of St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles (go to map from link in banner). English is the official language of the island but Dutch is also taught in schools and is spoken by many Sabans.

In February 2006, Conservation International, in conjunction with the Saba Conservation Foundation, embarked on a project to survey the biodiversity of Saba from beneath the sea to the summit of its highest peak, Mt. Scenery. As part of this effort, the Department of Botany of the Smithsonian Institution surveyed the marine algae.

In 2006 and 2007, The New York Botanical Garden participated in surveying the bryophytes, lichens, and vascular plants of the island. Although small in size, Saba's rugged topography is covered by several vegetation types, ranging from near desert to cloud forest. Our goal is to provide illustrated checklists (a virtual museum) of all of the plants and lichens that grow on Saba and in the surrounding sea. Both native and introduced plants are included.

To find collections representing species of flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns, bryophytes, marine algae, or lichens, you can access the information available for a given group by clicking on the appropriate image on the left hand side of this page.

It is forbidden to pick plants and to remove plants from the island of Saba. All natural history studies must first be approved by the government of Saba. To find out how to obtain permission to collect herbarium specimens as was done in this study contact the Saba Conservation Foundation.

All photographs are copyrighted by the photographer. Most of the photographs of the flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns, bryophytes, and lichens were taken by Carol Gracie and most of those of the marine algae were taken by Diane LittlerHarrie Sipman took the photo micrographs of the lichens. For permission to use the images, contact the photographers. Citizens of Saba have permission to download images from the website for personal or educational purposes.

Date
2007
Data type
Portal
Theme
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Saba
Image
Plants and Lichens of Saba