My Seaweed Looks Weird: An Introduction to Seaweed Parasites

Introduction

Like other living organisms, algae are affected by many pests and diseases which will result in abnormal morphological states or, more simply, weird-looking seaweeds. Though they remain vastly under-documented, parasites are increasingly regarded as key players in natural ecosystems, but also as one of the most serious economic and environmental threats to seaweed aquaculture.

You should see this course as guiding your way through the research emerging within this field. The core content should take around 5 hours to work through. The further reading at the end of each section is entirely optional but will help you to extend and onsolidate your understanding. You will have the opportunity to test your understanding and gain a badge to recognise your learning through taking two quizzes. Before you attempt the quizzes, you should look at the Course and badge information page [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Described image
Figure 1 A few ‘weird’ looking seaweeds: (a) Kappaphycus; (b) Ulva; (c) Pyropia that you will discover in this course.

1 Getting started