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Bladder wrack

Bladder wrack ©Kirsten Smith

Bladder wrack

This brown seaweed lives in the mid shore and looks a bit like bubble wrap with the distinctive air bladders that give it its name.

Scientific name

Fucus vesiculosus

When to see

January to December

Species information

Statistics

Length: 15-100cm
Common

About

Probably the seaweed most associated with the seashore, Bladder wrack is a common wrack seaweed which grows between the high and low water marks on rocky shores. Bladder wrack has round air bladders which allow the seaweed to float upright underwater, this helps them exhange gases and absorb nutrients when submerged. It forms dense beds on the mid shore, often together with Egg Wrack. It provides a shelter for many creatures and is a food source for others, including the Flat periwinkle.

How to identify

Bladder wrack is an olive-brown 'wrack' seaweed. It can be recognised by its strap-like, branching fronds that have air-filled 'bladders' along their length (often appearing in pairs either side of the pronounced mid-rib). The edges are not serrated.

Distribution

Common on rocky shores all around our coasts.

Did you know?

Bladder wrack was once used as a source of iodine to treat goitres. Nowadays, you're more likely to find it in your anti-ageing cream as research has found that it has anti-ageing properties!