Marine algaeis photosynthesizing plant that grows in sea water. It is classified into microalgae and macroalgae. Macroalgae has been used by human as food, feed, fertilizer, drug and industrial ingredient for a long time or as the feed, spawning ground and breeding area of marine resources.
- Algae is a collective term for all photosynthesizing organisms except lant plants. Rather than referring to a specific classification, it is a broad sense meaning for wider classification groups.
- According to the living environment, algae is classified into marine algae and fresh water algae.
- Ecologically, it is classified into micro-algae and macro-algae.
- While it is known that there are approximately 40,000 species of algae all over the world, according to another source, it is also known that there are 4-8 times species that have not been recorded yet.
- Most of algae are in the unicellular microalgae group also referred to as plant plankton, that have an important role as the basic source of food in the marine ecosystem. Multicellular algae photosynthesize in similar way with land plant, but as they live in marine environment with various nutritions other than water and carbon dioxide, they are more effective in converting solar energy into biomass.
- Currently, there are approximately 500 species of algae used by human. Algae species with commercial importance include kelp, sea mustard, laver, agar, sea string and pterocladiella capillacea.
Classification of Macroalgae and Microalgae
| Classification | Microalgae | Macroalgae |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Microscopic size | Visible |
| Group | All groups except brown algae | General classification by green algae, brown algae and red algae |
| Habitat | Marine water and fresh water | Mostly marine water |
| Representative Species | Fresh water species (Chiorella, Scenedesmu, etc.) Marine water species (Tetraselmis, Nannochloropsis, etc.) |
Sea mustard, kelp, gulfweed, laver, agar, green laver, etc. |
| Production Method | Indoor culture aquarium | Current seaweed cultivation method (spreading, etc.) |
| Major substance | Lipids | Carbohydrates |
Source: National Fisheries, Seaweed Research Center, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Fish Farm Management Department Conference Material (April 2009)
Distribution of Seaweed
The global distribution as as shown above. Seaweed species that are cultivated from fish farms are only five groups, specifically, porphyria, eucheuma and gracilaria in the red algae group, and laminaria and undaria in the brown algae group.
