Taxonomy of Eelgrass Zostera marina |
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Taxon |
Latin name |
Description |
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Phylum |
Anthophyta |
flowering plants / angiosperms |
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Class |
Liliopsida |
Monocotyledons; includes grasses, orchids, and palms |
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Subclass |
Alismatidae |
1 of 4 subclasses of monocots; contains mostly aquatic or semi-aquatic species |
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Superorder |
Alismatiflorae = Alismatanae |
Includes pond weeds and relatives; consists of 15 families, 56 genera, and aprox. 500 spp. |
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Order |
Najadales |
Contains 8 families total, 3 of which contain exclusively seagrasses (Cymodoceaceae, Posidoniaceae, and Zosteraceae). The family Hydrocharitaceae has 3 marine genera, the rest are fresh water only. |
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Family |
Zosteraceae |
Includes three genera: Zostera, Heterozostera and Phyllospadix; Greek “zoster” means “belt”; all representatives are seagrasses with ribbon-like leaves and creeping rhizomes |
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Genus |
Zostera |
Contain 2 subgenera- Zostera and Zosterella |
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Species |
marina |
see characteristics below |
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*Note: The taxonomy of seagrasses is continuously changing as the technology to compare them improves, including genetic studies. Characteristics of genus Zostera
Characteristics of Z. marina
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DistributionZostera marina can be found on both coasts of the United States as well as throughout Europe and eastern Asia (see map). Although typically thought of as a cold water species, it grows as far south as the Carolinas on the U.S. east coast and the Baha Peninsula on the west coast. This species is usually a perennial, but in Mexico, Z.. marina grows as an annual, possibly an adaptation to the heat of summer. OriginZostera is believed to have originated during the Tertiary period in the Western North Pacific Ocean (McRoy, 1968; den Hartog, 1970). The seagrass as well as a number of other marine organisms most likely invaded the North Atlantic Ocean through the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean during the late Tertiary (Durham and MacNeil, 1967). |
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References: den Hartog, C. 1970. The Sea Grasses of the World. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam. Durham, J.W. and F.S. MacNeil. 1967. Cenoszoic migrations of marine invertebrates through the Bering Strait region. Pp. 326-349 in The Bering Land Bridge, D.M. Hopkins, (Editor). Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. Green EP and Short FT (eds) (2003) World Atlas of Seagrasses. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. Larkum, A.W.D., Orth, R.J., Duarte. C.M. (Editors), 2006. Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and Conservation. Springer. McRoy, C.P. 1968. The distribution and biogeography of Zostera marina (eelgrass) in Alaska. Pac. Sci. 22:507-513. |
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