[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Crustose coralline algae (CCA)
(Pneophyllum conicum)

Photo by Gerick Bergsma. Text by Nichole Price.

Coralline algae lay down layers of calcium carbonate to build their crusts, just like corals do! Depending on the intensity of water flow, CCA can grow as flat sheets covering the reef floor or as free rolling rhodoliths that look like tumbleweeds.


	Crustose coralline algae (CCA), or calcareous red algae (CRA), encrust reef pavement as “living rocks” in both temperate and tropical regions worldwide! Because particular CCA are so difficult to identify with the naked eye, it is difficult to specify a species range; however, P. conicum is probably limited to the tropical Indo-Pacific.

	Reef drop-offs and overhangs from 0-30m. This alga prefers shaded crevices.

	Sunlight and CO2

	This CCA can overgrow and kill live coral in the Caribbean.

	- Kate Buenau's PhD Research - Maggie Johnson's Graduate Research - CCA - Moorea Biocode Database