Gracilaria arcuata

Thallus stout, cartilaginous, 4-10(-15) cm high, greenish, yellowish-red to purple or cream-whitish. Main axes and branches more or less arcuated upwards, cylindrical (3 mm in diam.) or slightly compressed (to 5 mm thick). Branching irregular, unilateral, alternate or divaricate Branches unconstricted or sometimes slightly constricted at their bases. Ultimate branchlets simple, to 2.7 mm long or dividing into 2-3 short spinose branchlets and tapering abruptly toward the apices. Tips of branches and branchlets acute. Terasporangia cruciately divided, about 10 mm in diam. Attachment by small discoid holdfast. Growing on dead corals, in pools, at low intertidal to subtidal, in sites exposed to moderate wave action.

Europe. Indian and Pacific Oceans. Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region: Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, Pacific Islands.