How2Day: What Organisms Eat Bladderwrack?

Seaweeds are known as ocean vegetables. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Small sea creatures such as crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic snails thrive on the tall brown seaweed known as Bladderwrack or "Fucus vesiculosis," according to the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But the organisms that consume the most may be humans, because of its use in alternative medicines and teas and as a cooked vegetable. Bladderwrack, which gains its name from its multitude of tiny, air-filled pods, is particularly abundant on the coast of Great Britain.

Small ocean crustaceans that range in size from 1/4 inch to 2 inches long eat Bladderwrack, NOAA states in a technical memorandum about oil spill impacts. These crustaceans include isopods (such as the Marine Slater) and amphipods (such as the Sand Hopper). The website Life on Australian Shores identifies about 350 to 400 thousand species of these tiny animals.

Other Bladderwrack eaters NOAA cites include chitons and limpets, hard-shelled invertibrates that are part of the mollusk family. Whereas chitons are usually just a few inches long, limpets can be almost two feet long. Aquatic sea snails called littorines are also fond of the seaweed. They have typical nautilus-shaped snail shells, some of which can spiral nearly a foot high.

Sometimes the seaweed is served as a vegetable, such as in "Buttered Bladderwrack," which the website Celtnet calls a traditional British recipe. In addition to iodine, the website Herb Wisdom notes that Bladderwrack is rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, sulfur, silicon, iron and some B-complex vitamins.

But the human use most often cited is medicinal. The website Rx List says that although Bladderwrack is thought to be good for goiter problems, iodine deficiency, treatment of obesity, arthritis, arteriosclerosis and digestive difficulties, evidence remains insufficient as to its effectiveness.

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