What caulerpa prolifera looks like when 'going sexual'

A

Ashlar

After going through a 'sexual' event twice, I now know what to look for.

This time, I was smart enough to grab the camera and take some pictures.

When this macro goes sexual, the 'leaves' turn a very dark green / olive color.

The stems of the leaves as well as the runner that connects them turns white / clear. The reason for this is that the chloroplasts from the stems and runners are moving out to the leaves to produce gametes, as seen here..

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You'll notice that the leaves develop little 'hairs' that if left in the tank will become nodules. These nodules are where the gametes are produced then released.

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The act of releasing the gametes opens up all the internal structures of the macro, which leads to the destruction of the internal tissue. In other words, it 'melts'.

So if you see your caulerpa prolifera stems turning white, or you see little hairs forming, rip it up.
 
You're welcome. I wish I'd had the sense to do the same when my c. taxafolia went sexual, so that I could share that, too.
 
Also, one note- not all of it goes sexual at once. I have two other 'strings' of it that are fine; they look perfectly normal.

So I wouldn't rip out all your prolifera if this happens, just the affected 'strings'.
 
@waterbeing wrote:
Great examples and pictures. Should be a good help and even a 'sticky' somewhere. said:
I concur. Just made this one a sticky...

So Scott, had you bumped the lighting cycle up before this happened? Just wondering why all your Calupera is so promiscious, and why all mine are such prudes...
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Yah, it's been on 19 hour lighting for two weeks now (since we put up the 'fish curtains').. and 16 hours before that. I had noticed it slowed down it's growth overall. The cheato seems to be outcompeting everything else in the fuge.

Maybe it's a 'not a lot of nutrients here, let's send some seeds somewhere else' kind of thing. My nitrates have been testing at <5ppm for almost a month now.
 
Just make sure that when you pull out your C. taxifolia that you don't throw it directly into the trash or flush it. PLEASE freeze it and make sure that it will not reproduce in the wild. This is a very invasive species so be careful when disposing it.
 
@Isis wrote:
Just make sure that when you pull out your [I]C. taxifolia [/I]that you don't throw it directly into the trash or flush it. PLEASE freeze it and make sure that it will not reproduce in the wild. This is a very invasive species so be careful when disposing it. said:
I just have to ask. How exactly does it pull this off? In trash. .no water. . dries out. . . :shock: . Flushing. . well least it has water. Though I didn't know saltwater macros could reproduce in freshwater.

I mean I know all drains lead to the sea, but sheech. . it's a little far.
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@Jaguar wrote:
[I]@Isis wrote:[/I][quote="Just make sure that when you pull out your [I]C. taxifolia [/I]that you don't throw it directly into the trash or flush it. PLEASE freeze it and make sure that it will not reproduce in the wild. This is a very invasive species so be careful when disposing it. said:
I just have to ask. How exactly does it pull this off? In trash. .no water. . dries out. . . :shock: . Flushing. . well least it has water. Though I didn't know saltwater macros could reproduce in freshwater.

I mean I know all drains lead to the sea, but sheech. . it's a little far."]There are many species that are tolerant of various environments, including fluctuations of salinity. This is really seen here in Houston buyous where the salinity changes with the rainey seasons. We even find freshwater plecos down here, ,which do tons of damage locally. It are the ones that are considered invasive that can tolerate the most, which it is why they proliferate. Why take any chances?
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ON top of that, most people don't know (including myself) that the water that comes out of gas and oil wells is Salt Water... So yeah, we should be careful when we dump into drains, outdoor drains especially...
 
There are a few things that folks do to keep it from going sexual. First and foremost seems to be keeping the lighting on at least 18 hours a day (preferably 24/7 if you don't have any critters that need darkness.)

Secondly, keeping the 'density' down seems to keep it from triggering a reproductive event. Trimming it regularly is a definite requirement.

See this thread for some pictures of some different species of caulerpa.
 
Caulerpa produces toxic compounds in order to make it unpalatable to herbivores. When it 'goes sexual', these toxic compounds (as well as all the nitrates that it was sucking up) get released into the water.
 
.... and the main plant dies, dissolving within 72 hours or less.
 
I have some calurp that is turning white on the part of the root there are no hairs , dont mean to sound like a rookie but this im my first tank with a refuge, is it good for it to go sexual or should i despose of it or rip it up meaning tear it in to smaller pieces?. Also how long should i leave the light on the fefuge for?
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That definitely looks like it's going sexual- it's bad thing as it releases all the nutrients that it's been taking up, as well as the toxins that caulerpa creates to keep fish from nibbling at it.

I'd pull up any strings whose base is turning white and throw it out.
 
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