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 Red Algae
Kingdom Chromista - Phylum Rhodophyta
98% of the species of red algae are found in the marine environment
with many in deep water.
Photosynthetic Pigments: Chlorophyll a, d + phycobilins
Cell Walls: Cellulose, agar and carrageenan.
Agar is the medium used to coat the bottom of a collection
plate used for microbial cultures.
Carrageenan is used to make ice cream, eggnogs, frostings
and creamed soup among other things.
Red algae are also used in food products. Types of red algae
include coralline algae (shown below) which has a type of armor
coating from deposits of calcium carbonate in their cell walls
and Porphyra which looks like a sheet of red plastic.
In deep waters, these red algae absorbs every other color but
red because there is no color red in the deep.
Red Algae - coralline algae
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