Sargassum muticum

Wireweed, Japweed, Sargassum

20 July 2020: Observed, then collected at 12:45pm PDT

Qualicum, Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada

Low Tide 1.6 feet at 12:14pm PDT (measured at Winchelsea Tidal Station)

Weather: Clear skies, no precipitation, wind NE 10km/hour, light chop, temperature 22˚C, relative humidity 60%.

Phase of Moon: Waxing Crescent (only 2 hours into this phase at time of observation/collection); (Previous Phase, New Moon, 20 July 2020 at 10:32am PDT: Next Phase, First Quarter, 27 July 2020 at 5:32am PDT.)

Figure 1: Sargassum muticum, moving with the surf at low tide. Little Qualicum River Estuary, Strait of Georgia, B.C., Canada. July 20, 2020. Photo ID 27422 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

In situ observations:

Live seaweed observed in the low intertidal zone, in shallow water. The beach here has a very gradual slope in the surf zone. The substrate is mixed cobble, gravel, and sand.

Person 1:

Furry barracuda.

Lion’s mane.

Graceful.

Actively swimming. Swimming pattern was the same (in one plant) with each wave.

Moves as a whole.

They are so well attached to stones that they are carefree.

I see gills.

Playful – playing in the waves.

Maybe shy – hiding behind a furry coat.

Rougher feel than expected. Maybe not as soft and cuddly as it appears.

Tiny strong ‘feet’ (holdfasts), look like suction cups.

Person 2:

In the gentle surf, waving also in gently plumed arches from your rock holdfast. In with the water, then out with the water; then in again, out again, in again, out again.

The movement helps you spread your branches. None stays in one place very long.

All get light. All get fresh seawater, and the nutrients it brings.

Many plants grow here along the cobbled rocky beach.

You form a ribbon of brown waving fronds all along the shore line.

You bob along, move with the ocean swells.

You are big but not large.

You are brown at the season; green earlier?

You and the Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima) are neighbors.

Your movement in the water is entrancing - undulating waves of your many branched fronds.

I feel your gratitude for the water.

And I also feel there’s a balance at play here – if the water’s too strong you could be torn away from your hold, pulled by all your considerable “branch-sail”.

Balance size with force of water. Always a question of balance.

Tiny floats catch the light.

You need many floats.

Figure 2: Sargassum muticum, closer view showing axis, branches, blades, and floats. Little Qualicum River Estuary, Strait of Georgia, B.C., Canada. July 5, 2020. Photo ID 27423 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Further explorations with the live seaweed in a bucket of seawater:

Person 1:

Prettiest when viewed up close in still water in our bucket, but more elegant in the ocean.

Floats almost look as though they don’t belong.

Rough but pleasant texture.

Pleasant crunchy texture but no taste.

No smell.

Detached floats go to the edge of the bucket/basin.

Reflecting on your names; “Sargassum” – association with Sargasso Sea, can visualize the swirling mass of Sargassum in that gyre.

“Gas” – in the seaweed floats.

“Muticum” – mutiny.

“Wireweed” – matches appearance but unimaginative name.

“Japweed” – associations with: invasion, Pearl Harbor, Kamikaze.

Person 2:

Bumpy feel as I run fingers along branches. All the small bladders make a bumpy feel.

Rough but not gritty.

Your tiny leaves are thin and narrow and translucent.

An iodine/olive green color.

Your holdfast is a simple disc-like suction cup – it holds you well to your cobble.

A very short stipe rises from this disc and soon branches prolifically into long branches with numerous, numerous, numerous small branchlets. This is where all your growth is – again it is divided into short branches, each with the small leaves and tiny bladders, many bladders.

Dividing, dividing and dividing. Numerous, numerous, numerous.

Big but not large – comprised of numerous small parts.

Strong.

The long stems are tough, strong – I cannot break them.

The smallest branches will tear off, from the larger stem, but the large stem is not easily broken.

I popped a bladder – it seemed to be only filled with air.

I’m not satisfied looking at you in the bucket. Why? You need space, and there is not enough space for you to stretch out in this bucket.

You take up space, too, where you grow.

Some leaves are flat, some are succulent-looking; why?

No smell.

Crunchy texture; very mild taste of the sea.

Looking at you, even now that I’ve moved you to a larger basin, there is not enough space to see you (glad we spent time with you in the surf).

In the basin, looks rather drab, not overly attractive, yet you give an overall impression that there is a design or a pattern to your ways.

Not abrasive, but bumpy, rough.

I enjoy absent-mindedly rubbing my fingers along you. As I rub, I’m lulled. Lulled like a babe rocking in a cradle. Lulled into a state with few thoughts and a comfortable nothingness.

Your cobble / anchor rock is important – how many of you alight and grow on one that is too small (not massive enough) for how big you will ultimately grow? Then what? Do your prolifically grown branches pull you too far in shore and strand you? Or the reverse, pull you too deep for good sunlight?

What a challenge, or is it simply luck…, that you find the right place to grow?

Tasted more of this seaweed, a larger piece – with bladders, small stems, both kinds of leaves (flat and succulent). After a couple of chews a bitter tasted filled my mouth, but thankfully didn’t linger.

No other taste but that of the sea.

In the waves I liked very much the look of your long branches moving. There was beauty in how you responded to the gentle surf. But I sense there was also a lot of drag along your many branchlets and leaves and floats.

Do you feel this force that moves you?

Is your design so clever that the forces of the ocean do your work for you? And you can then lie back like an old man slumbering in a hammock?

Thinking about your names, “Sargassum” – interesting sound to it. The word “gas” stands out – sar-gass-um. What is it about gas and this plant? ‘Gassum’ and “massive” seem to pair up for me, too.

“Muticum” – makes me thinks of one who is muted, cannot speak. Why did you lose your voice?

“Japweed” – a slur, against a group of people who had nothing to do with this “weed’s” colonizing/adaptable/invasive/moving-right-in-and-being-at-home traits.

“Japweed” sounds sharp, cutting, critical; but also succinct and easy to remember.

“Wireweed” – second thought, made-up, politically correct name.

Figure 3: Sargassum muticum, masses of this seaweed are growing here, some floating in the shallow foreground tide pool, others carpeting the low tide shoreline. It is easy to understand the ‘invasive’ quality of this species when Wireweed dominates much of the habitat like this. Willow Point, Strait of Georgia, B.C., Canada. July 21, 2020. Photo ID 27424 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Exploring a bit further:

Person 1:

Wanted to observe and interact with this seaweed in the water – why? Perhaps it’s because that’s where it has its freedom to move. This freedom to move is in contrast with the logistical challenges / restrictions we experienced during our activities today.

Reflecting on the broken-off floats which are all at the edge of the basin – it’s like escaping from the masses. Repel / polarized?

Shallow. Not much depth.

It looks to the outsider to be happy, but this plant is looking for freedom.

Inviting at a distance, but not welcoming up close.

Hidden violence?

Hidden agenda?

Person 2:

Disturbance.

Where to go to do the rest of our interaction and recording after our in-situ observations?

Couldn’t stay in situ – tide approaching, rubber boots not tall enough – tidal disturbance.

Couldn’t stay out on the beach – too hot today in the direct sun – heat disturbance.

Couldn’t go to the one tree-shaded part of the beach – construction there, noise from saw, radio at worksite – noise disturbance.

Found a small shady spot, but had to sit right next to creosote soaked logs – olfactory disturbance.

Disturbed / disturbance is a BIG theme today.

This seaweed itself was introduced to this region and ‘disturbed’ the local equilibrium.

This seaweed wants to swing in a hammock and rest, rest, rest.

It has worked hard and is done with work, done with ambition.

It is unwanted.

Even scorned.

Not seen for its perfect design of “ease”.

There is no eye-catching iridescence, no showy color, no dramatic size; this seaweed is easily overlooked or is seen but not admired, because it sets no standards, fills no superlatives. Ah, that’s quite accurate, the ways in which it notable seems largely to be in qualities that are disdained. Why would Sargassum want to be “seen” for that?

It simply does well in its quiet easy way – finding the right rock, the right balance of size versus force, and grows as large, as massive, as that equation will permit.

Where is home? Here is where I’ll make it.

Are you homesick? I think not. I think you’ve let go of the need for home.

Here will do.

Here I’ll be.

Figure 4: Sargassum muticum, gracefully cured out from its anchor rock; this individual is profusely studded with receptacles. Little Qualicum River Estuary, Strait of Georgia. July 5, 2020. Photo ID 27425 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Discussion:

When we first compiled these notes, we felt that it sounded disjointed – incomplete, somehow. Two hours later, upon rereading, we were surprised to feel, oh, this doesn’t sound disjointed and incomplete anymore.

Disturbance was prominent in this Whispering.

All these disturbances led to an unsettled feeling. Experienced as:

We can’t settle here – the tide's coming in. So, find another spot.

We can’t settle here, it’s too hot; we’ll burn from sun exposure. So, find another spot.

We can’t settle here, it’s too noisy. So, find another spot.

We can’t settle here, it’s too smelly. So, find another spot.

Repetition is a big theme. AND the need to “find another spot”.

Disturbance, disturbance, disturbance.

Dividing, dividing, dividing.

Numerous, numerous, numerous.

In no other Whispering to date were we compelled to repeat words for emphasis like this.

This seaweed can be boring.

It innately emphasizes / exaggerates its qualities by using the simple concept of repetition, over and over and over - thus repeating itself, very successfully.

So, it gets big, but not large; it increases in size in that way, and yet it seems to not culminate in any notable expression. It just repeats, repeats, repeats…, like that is the way to engage – in life.

On the flip side, this is why this seaweed is done with work; it’s tired, and wants to rest – only floating on the surface rather than engaging more deeply.

So, there is much that isn’t examined. Individual parts that can only grow to a certain size; they are linked all together but not well interconnected. That task would be exhausting. There can be bursts of anger, or violence or defensiveness. These are short-lived but notable. Like the bitter taste that didn’t linger, like the burst of gas from a popped bladder.

However, these outbursts do repel others. It only takes one or two warnings. Others quickly learn to keep their distance, to not disturb or try to engage.

And Sargassum, well, Sargassum can return to their hammock, rocking with the ever-swaying seas that they travel so well.

Figure 5: The swaths of seaweed seen on this sandy beach are all Sargassum muticum – many of them 1.5 to 2 meters in length. This seaweed travels far and wide and has colonized many areas with its self-fertile reproductive capacity. Little Qualicum River Estuary, Strait of Georgia, B.C., Canada. July 5, 2020. Photo ID 27426 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Returning specimens to sea:

As it was logistically difficult to return this seaweed to the point of collection, we returned the specimens to the sea at a location many kilometers from where we found them – thus disturbing and resettling these individual plants…, as is seen in the story of this seaweed in general.

Figure 6: Sargassum muticum is seen here as it is being severely grazed by numerous mudflat snails (Batillaria cumingi) – another introduced from Japan species. Little Qualicum River Estuary, B.C., Canada. July 5, 2020. Photo ID 27427 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Biology & Natural History Information:

Description:

Wireweed is a rather tough and wiry species; its many branches result in a bushy appearance. The main axes arise from near the base of a discoidal holdfast. They branch repeatedly and alternately to form a wiry thallus that is golden brown in color and up to 2 meters tall (in good conditions even taller). Small blades are rather lanceolate with toothed margins; they are longest near the base of the plant (up to 10 cm in length) and become smaller towards the tips of the branches where they can be only a few millimeters long. Small round floats (also called vesicles), only about 2 – 3 mm in diameter, occupy the angle between the blade and the stem immediately above it. They can occur singly or sometimes in small clusters.

Receptacles also arise in blade axils; they are cylindrical or forked and about the same size as the floats. In California some individuals are fertile all year. In colder waters, receptacles develop mainly when the water temperature exceeds 10˚C. Fertilized eggs develop into germlings before they are released; lateral braches can detach and disperse during germling release, helping to disperse the species.

Habitat:

Japweed / Wireweed is a tough, wiry, branched and bushy looking species that is described as “highly invasive”. It is common to locally abundant on rocks and in sand and mud in sheltered to moderately exposed habitats. It is not endemic (native) to North America, but was introduced from Japan on shells with oyster spat in Puget Sound, Washington in the 1930’s. By 1973 Japweed had spread south along the Pacific coastline to 100 km south of the US / Mexico border. Given the abundance of this seaweed in many locales it is difficult to imagine that the species is not native; it undoubtedly has affected the distribution of many native seaweed species. Wireweed has also been (inadvertently) introduced to the North Atlantic. Japweed is native to Japan and China.

World Distribution:

Originally known only from Japan, this species is now widely distributed throughout the north Pacific, north Atlantic and Mediterranean showing an extraordinary ability to tolerate a wide range of conditions.

Remarks:

Since each mature individual is bisexual and self-fertile, this seaweed is easily introduced into other areas, especially as detached fertile pieces drift freely with ocean currents. When this occurs, it can build up its populations rapidly, especially since it can be fertile throughout much of the year and each individual plant produces so many receptacles.

Another key to success of this species is that it tolerates water of decreased salinity (as low as 8.5 parts per thousand); average salinity is 32 parts per thousand. Wireweed can withstand at least one week of exposure to water 28˚C in temperature, and is among the most thermally tolerant of local species of brown algae.

An important predator of Wireweed is the grazer, the Green Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) in the Strat of Georgia, British Columbia, and probably elsewhere as well. Detached pieces of this seaweed are often found washed up on the beach after drifting to shore.

Some tropical species of Sargassum are always free floating. Portuguese sailors encountered huge rafts of this algae in the Atlantic, west of Africa, and named the area the Sargasso Sea after a type of grape, ‘sarga’.

Other Common Names:

Sargassum, Japanese Sargassum, Japanese seaweed, Japanese weed, Jap weed.

Former name(s): Sargassum kjellmanianum f. muticum Yendo 1907

Classification:

Phylum: Ochrophyta

Class: Phaeophyceae

Order: Fucales

Family: Sargassaceae

Genus: Sargassum

Species: Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt 1955

Figure 7: The holdfast area is depicted here. On the left a large cobble is profusely studded with multiple Wireweed holdfasts and stipes. On the right, another cobble only has a few and this shows the discoid-shaped holdfast very well. Little Qualicum River Estuary, Strait of Georgia, B.C., Canada. July 20, 2020. Photo ID 27428 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com