Biology of posidonia

Abstract

At least 17,000 km separate the endemic Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile from the eight other species of the same genus (P. angustifolia Cambridge and Kuo, P. australis Hooker, P. coriacea Kuo and Cambridge, P. denhartogii Kuo and Cambridge, P. kirkmanii Kuo and Cambridge, P. ostenfeldii Den Hartog, P. robertsoniae Kuo and Cambridge, and P. sinuosa Cambridge and Kuo) (Cambridge and Kuo, 1979; Kuo and Cambridge, 1984). Along Mediterranean coastlines, P. oceanica covers about 2% of the seafloor. Australian Posidonia occurs in benthic habitats covering about twice the area of the Mediterranean Sea. © 2006/2007 Springer. All Rights Reserved.