Caulerpa webbiana, commonly known as bottlebrush green seaweed, is a species of seaweed in the family Caulerpaceae. The seaweed has an olive green to bright green thallus that spreads outward to around 12 to forming dense clumps on coral rubble among seagrasses. The stems are about 4 to in length and have small bristles composed of many fine branched filaments, that are arranged in whorls around the stolon in the middle so that it resembles a stiff bottlebrush. The species was first formally described in 1837 by the botanist Camille Montagne as part of the work Centurie de plantes cellulaires exotiques nouvelles as published in Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique, Seconde série. The only known synonym is Chauvinia webbiana as described by Friedrich Traugott Kützing in 1849. The type specimen was collected from around Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The species is found in warmer waters in sediment or in coral reefs. It is found around the Canary Islands, islands in the Caribbean and Hawaii. It is also found is parts of Asia including Singapore. In Western Australia, it is found along the coast in the Kimberley region extending south to the Houtman Abrolhos.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Caulerpa webbiana has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens5
Marker genes3
GenBank sequences4
eDNA detections9
Countries4
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★rbcL3★ITS1tufA
plant barcodefungal barcodemarker
07Deep time~12.4 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin12.4 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type1 234 records
Wild obs. + sensor353
Museum / vouchered761
Other120
Origin
Native9
Introduced61
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO2 136 km²
Depth
0–200 m sunlit183
200–1000 m twilight1
1–4 km midnight0
>4 km abyssal0
median 0 m · max 275 m · 184 records with depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy71% within 1 km
≤100 m 72≤1 km 30≤10 km 33>10 km 9
144 georeferenced · 209 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor353
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy63% within 1 km
≤100 m 101≤1 km 102≤10 km 102>10 km 17
322 georeferenced · 439 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence761
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions20 of 46 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Honolulu, US
96
BISHlocation not on record
66
Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record
57
Tartu Fungal Culture Collectionlocation not on record
54
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
40
James Cook Townsvillelocation not on record
29
Ann Arbor, US
25
MeiseBGlocation not on record
18
Kensington, AU
18
Brisbane, AU
16
Wellington, NZ
13
Bronx, US
12
Mount Annan, AU
9
Hobart, AU
7
València, ES
6
South Kensington, GB
5
San Diego, US
5
Université de Polynésie Française Herbariumlocation not on record
4
WTUlocation not on record
4
Auckland, NZ
4
IPA/SPlocation not on record
3
Adelaide, AU
3
LDlocation not on record
3
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Herbariumlocation not on record
3
The University and Jepson Herbarialocation not on record
3
GRAlocation not on record
3
Durham, US
2
Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, New Caledonia, Herbarium of the IRD Noumealocation not on record
2
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, United States National Herbariumlocation not on record
2
Acadia Universitylocation not on record
2
Tampa, US
2
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturellelocation not on record
2
GENTlocation not on record
2
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciencelocation not on record
1
Brown Universitylocation not on record
1
JBRJlocation not on record
1
Burlington, US
1
Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record
1
Vancouver, CA
1
UAclocation not on record
1
Minia, EG
1
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras José Benito Vives de Andreis - Invemarlocation not on record
1
Buenos Aires, AR
1
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
1
New Haven, US
1
Herbario de la Facultad de Ciencias (FCME)location not on record
1
46 institutions · 533 of 761 vouchered records shown · 102 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA9 detections
Where the DNA of Caulerpa webbiana was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found9
Studies independent surveys1
Countries3
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 9 detections have coordinates
Open the map3 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median25.4 °C 22.6–26.4
Seasonal swing summer↔winter3.60 °C
Max temp (day)26.1 °C 25.2–27.0
Min temp (night)24.6 °C 20.3–25.4
Precipitation164 mm/mo 107–191
Air humidity63.1 % 59.4–65.6
Moisture balance-13.6 mm/mo
Vapour deficit1,191 Pa 1,066–1,247
Wind speed5.10 m/s
Cloud cover32.2 % 23.7–33.8
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 8 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.