Synonyms: Corallina deshayesii Montagne (1849) p. 130 (?); Corallina mediterranea Areschoug (1851) (mnscr) in J. Agardh p. 568; Corallina officinalis var. mediterranea Hauck (1885) p. 281.

VEGETATIVE FEATURES

Thallus habit: erect, bushy, attached by a crustose basal disc. Size: 1.5-5cm high. Branching: pinnate, regular, abundant; branch junctions usually coinciding with intergenicula (A). Branches: lying on one plane, very dense, more or less regular (A); simple adventitious branches, present at lateral angles of distal apices, usually formed by 1-3 intergenicula (0.6-0.8mm x 0.2-0.3mm). Intergenicula: compressed (longitudinal raise sometimes present) (B), distal ends, palmate due to anastomosing intergenicula; maximum length 1-2mm (basal intergenicula); upper diameter 0.2mm (0.6-0.8mm x 0.4-0.5mm). Genicula: with 1 row of medullary cells 150-200(300)µm long. Colour of living specimen: pale pink to grey violet with lighter margins. Colour of dried specimen: from violet grey to white ivory.

Basal crust: medullary thickness up to 300µm, cells in regular rows: 25-40µm long x 5-14µm in diameter; cortex thickness up to 200µm, cells 10-15µm long. Medulla: cells 30-50µm long x 5-8µm in diameter (near genicula: 15-17 long x 5-8µm in diameter). Cortex: 60-200µm thick, cells 10-15µm. Epithallial cells: (C) 5-10µm in diameter. Cell connections: cell fusions. Other features: rounded trichocytes, smaller than surrounding cells, with slightly swollen base, located at the junction of several contiguous cells (C) (Economou-Amilli et al. 1990).

Tetra/bisporangial conceptacles: uniporate, terminal, pedunculate (rarely lateral sessile), globoid or pear-shaped (hemispherical sessile) (D), 300-500µm in outside diameter; with 2 (3) sometimes articulated projections (horn-like). Phenology: February, March and June. 

Habitat: epilithic species, recorded on exposed rocks and pools. Bathymetric distribution: from surface to 3 m deep, littoral to sublittoral. Geographic distribution (Babbini & Bressan 1997):

Alboran Sea (A): Spain, Morocco; Western Mediterranean Sea (African shores) (B): Algeria, Tunisia; Middle Western Mediterranean Sea (C): Spain, France, Italy; North Western Mediterranean Sea (D): Spain, France, Italy; North Adriatic Sea (E): Italy, Croatia; Middle Adriatic Sea (F): Italy, Croatia; South Adriatic Sea (G): Italy, Albania; South Eastern Mediterranean Sea (H): Italy, Malta, Tunisia, Libya, Israel; Middle Eastern Mediterranean Sea (L): Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria; North Eastern Mediterranean Sea (M): Greece, Turkey. www.AlgaeBase.org Corallina elongata Ellis & Solander