Sailor's Eyeball Valonia ventricosa
Sailor’s eyeball is an odd seaweed that looks like a dark green marble and consists of a single large cell attached to the substrate (which is often coral rubble) by a cluster of filaments called rhizoids. Younger plants have a bluish sheen, but older ones become overgrown with encrusting coralline red seaweeds. Sailor’s eyeball has an unusual way of reproducing vegetatively: daughter cells are formed within the parent, which then degenerates, releasing the young plants in the process.
zoom image
zoom image- Class Cladophorophyceae
- Size Up to 1 in (4 cm)
- Habitat Rock and coral to 100 ft (30 m)
- Water_temperature 50–86°F (10–30°C)
- Distribution Western Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian and Pacific oceans
zoom image
