Halophila decipiens paddle grass
Kingdom: PLANTAE
Division: ANTHOPHYTA
Class: MONOCOTYLEDONEAE
Order: HELOBIAE
Family: HYDROCHARITACEAE
Genus: Halophila
Species: decipiens
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
- Halophila is the only genus of seagrasses whose leaves do not
have basal sheaths
- Leaves are roundish or ovate and commonly referred to as
"paddle shaped"
- Leaf blades are 1- 2. 5 cm long and 3- 6 mm wide
- Leaf margins are serrulate
- Thin rhizome
- At the base of the leaf there are 2 scales
- Monoecious
- Annual
HABITAT
- Grows in water 10- 30 m deep but is found up to 85 m deep
- Euryhaline
DISTRIBUTION
- Distributed in the Indian Ocean and tropical parts of the
Pacific and western Atlantic Oceans
Image Credit: Ronald C. Phillips
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