# Weird net-like algae.



## npnailer (Apr 16, 2007)

Ok...this is an odd one. 
I have some kind of free-floating algae that looks all the world JUST like tiny sheets of fishing net. To make it even odder...it grows in a "tube" formation. Imagine a tube about the size and shape of a magic marker, made out of green rubber netting with the perfectly hexagonal "net" sections about 2 millimeters or so in diameter. The "netting" is actually pretty strong, and VERY uniform, and looks artificial! My camera is at work, or I'd try to get a photo if there is any left(I pulled a bunch out today during a weekly plant trim).
Any ideas? I've looked a bit on line, and found nothing, and I can't recall seeing anything like it before.
I know it's not a new species..but it WOULD be cool if it was


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Is it a Utricularia? They look a bit like netting when they bunch up, or they did when I had an infestation.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

It is hydrodictyon. See http://silicasecchidisk.conncoll.edu/LucidKeys/Carolina_Key/html/Hydrodictyon_Main.html


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## npnailer (Apr 16, 2007)

HeyPK said:


> It is hydrodictyon. See http://silicasecchidisk.conncoll.edu/LucidKeys/Carolina_Key/html/Hydrodictyon_Main.html


Darn, there goes my dream of being able to name an algae after my sister 
Anyway...thanks! It's actually a pretty cool looking thing, but it grows quickly.


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## Mr. Fish (Oct 24, 2007)

What causes that type of algae....anyone ?


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

It probably came in as a fragment along with a plant. These nets can come from a single cell.


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