2.1 Algae, diatoms
Ahnfeltia plicata (Hudson) Fries var. tobuchiensis Kanno & Matsub
Red alga. (Phyllophoraceae). Marine waters. Northeast coast of Asia. Experimental culture in Lake Tobuchi, Japan. Source of Sachalin agar.
Caulerpa racemosa (Forskål) Weber-van-Bosse
Green alga. (Caulerpaceae). Marine and brackish waters. Widely distributed. Cultivated in Philippines in large containers. Quite edible, pleasant taste.
Chaetomorpha antennica Kuetz
Green alga. (Cladophoraceae). Marine and brackish waters. Pacific Ocean and adjacent waters. Cultivated in Philippines for Chanos culture in brackishwater ponds. Consumed as food. Used for manufacture of a sweet meat.
Chaetomorpha crassa Kuetz
Green alga. (Cladophoraceae). Marine and brackish waters. Pacific Ocean and adjacent waters. Cultivated in Philippines. Use similar to C. antennica.
Chlorella ellipsoidea Gerneck
Green alga. (Oocystaceae). Fresh and brackish waters. Widely distributed. Pilot scale Chlorella farms have been established in America, Japan, Holland, Germany and Israel. Used as food by human beings and for fish cultivation.
Chlorella pyrenoidosa Chick
Green alga. (Oocystaceae). Fresh waters. Widely distributed. Other details same as C. ellipsoidea.
Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck
Green alga. (Oocystaceae). Fresh waters. Widely distributed. Other details same as C. ellipsoidea.
Cladophora sp.
Green alga. (Cladophoraceae). Marine and brackish waters. Widely distributed. Limited cultivation in brackishwater fish ponds in Philippines by application of commercial fertilizers.
Coccochloris (Microcystis) aeruginosa (Nageli) Drouet & Daily
Blue green alga. (Chroococcaceae). Fresh waters. Japan. Encouraged to grow in eel ponds. Besides giving out oxygen for eels, the plant has a very high nitrate demand and so absorbs pollution products from the pond.
Cyclotella sp.
(Coscinodiscaceae). Mass culture in U.S.A. for feeding fish.
Enteromorpha compressa (Linneaus) Greville
Green alga. (Ulvaceae). Marine and brackish waters. Pacific and adjacent oceans. Cultivated in Philippines for Chanos culture in brackishwater ponds.
Eucheuma edula J. Agardh
Red alga. (Solieriaceae). Marine waters. Indian Ocean, Tropical Pacific. Experimental cultivation in Indonesia. Used for making agar agar.
Eucheuma muricatum (Gmelin) Weber-van-Bosse (Syn. E. spinosum (Linnaeus) J. Agardh)
Red alga. (Solieriaceae). Marine waters. Indian Ocean, Tropical Pacific. Experimental cultivation in Indonesia. Used for making agar agar.
Gelidium amansii Lamour
Red alga. (Gelidiaceae). Coasts of China, Japan, South Africa. Limited cultivation in Japan and China. Used for making agar agar.
Gloiopeltis coliformis Harvey
Red alga. (‘Funori’). (Endocladiaceae). Marine waters. Pacific North America, China, Japan. Limited cultivation in Osaka (Japan). Used for sizing fabrics.
Gloiopeltis furcata (Postels & Ruprecht) J. Agardh
Red alga. (‘Funori’). (Endocladiaceae). Marine waters. Pacific North America, China, Japan. Limited cultivation in Osaka (Japan). Used for sizing fabrics.
Gracilaria verrucosa (Hudson) Papenfuss
Red alga. (Gracilariaceae). Marine waters. World-wide distribution. Cultivated in Tokyo Bay and some lagoons by putting small pieces of alga in twist of ropes, in waters rich in nutrients.
Gracilaria sp.
Red alga. (‘Ogonori’). (Gracilariaceae). Marine and brackish waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Tokyo Bay by suspending branches of the plant in waters rich in nutrients. Not considered to be economic culture at present. Cultivated in China (Taiwan) also, where growth is reported to be best during spring and autumn. Salinity of 25 ppt found to be good for growth of the alga.
Gymnodinium brevis Davis
Red tide organism. (Gymnodiniaceae). Marine waters. Widely distributed. Cultivated artificially in Florida for researches on control of red tide.
Hemidinium sp.
(Glenodiniaceae). Marine and brackish waters. Widely distributed. Cultivated for bioassay work because of its high requirement of B12. May become very useful as an assay organism for estuarine waters.
Laminaria japonica Areschong
Brown alga. (Japanese kelp, ‘Kombu’). (Laminariaceae). Marine waters. Coast of east Asia, especially Japan, Korea and Siberia. Cultivated in Japan and north China. Special type of farming in Japan by placing clean rocks, concrete cylinders, etc. in the sea.
Laminaria ochotensis Miyabe
Brown alga. (Japanese kelp, ‘Kombu’). (Laminariaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan Sea and Aniwa Bay by placing large rocks in the sea.
Monostroma crassissimum Iwanoto
Green alga. (Awo-nori). (Monostromataceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Tokyo Bay for food purposes, on ‘hibi’ in specific areas of shallow waters. Certain areas of the culture grounds are called ‘taneba’, where fixed spores and germlings appear in appreciable quantities.
Monostroma grevillei (Thuret) Wittrock
Green alga. (Awo-nori). (Monostromataceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Details same as M. crassissimum.
Monostroma latissimum (Kutzing) Wittrock
Green alga. (Awo-nori). (Monostromataceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Details same as M. crassissimum.
Monostroma nitidum Wittrock
Green alga (Awo-nori). (Monostromataceae). Marine waters. Widely distributed. Cultivated in Japan as a source of food like Porphyra.
Monostroma tubiliforme Iwanoto
Green alga. (‘Awo-nori’). (Monostromataceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Details same as M. crassissimum. Reported to favour regions with lowered salinity.
Nitzschia closterium (Ehrenberg) W. Smith
Diatom. (Nitzschiaceae). Marine, brackish and fresh waters. Widely distributed. Experimental cultivation in Japan for feeding oysters and pearl oysters.
Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin
Diatom. (Phaeodactylaceae). Marine waters. Widely distributed. Experimental cultivation in England in concrete tanks using fertilized sea water, for oyster feeding.
Porphyra angusta Okamura & Ueda forma sanrikuensis Kurogi
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan, specially in the cultivation ground of Shukunoha, on ‘hibi’. Japanese name : ‘Nise-kosujinori’.
Porphyra kuniedai Kurogi
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan, specially in the cultivation ground of Shukunoha, on ‘hibi’.
Porphyra okamurai Ueda
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan, in the cultivation ground of Shukunoha, on rocks and ‘phyllospadix’.
Porphyra pseudolinearis Ueda
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan, specially in the cultivation ground of Shukunoha, on ‘hibi’ and on artificial reefs at Saghalien.
Porphyra tenera Kjellman
Red alga. (‘Amanori’). (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Coast of East Asia, especially around China and Japan. Cultivated in Japan and China, specially in Tokyo Bay. Used for the preparation of ‘amanori’ in Japan, and for cooking in China and Japan. ‘Nori’ or ‘laver’ is prepared from this alga.
Porphyra umbilicalis (Linnaeus) Kuetz
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Coast of Japan, England and Wales. Experimental cultivation in Japan (east Hokkaido). Reported to be cultivated since 1960 in Matsushima Bay, Saghalien, etc.
Porphyra variegata (Kjellman) Hudson
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan, in the cultivation ground of Shukunoha, on rocks and ‘phyllospadix’.
Porphyra vulgaris J. Agardh
(Syn. P. laciniata J. Agardh)
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. Cultivated along Japanese coast. Dried and used as food called ‘Asakusanori’. Also eaten along coast of Great Britain.
Porphyra yezoensis Ueda
Red alga. (Bangiaceae). Marine waters. Japanese coast. Cultivated in Japan, specially in the cultivation ground of Shukunoha, on ‘hibi’ and on artificial reefs at Saghalien.
Scenedesmus obliquus (Turpin) Kuetz
Green alga. (Scenedesmaceae). Fresh waters. Widely distributed. Cultivated in Japan for feeding test animals like albino rat, gold fish, etc.
Skeletonema costatum (Greville) Cleve
Diatom. (Skeletonemaceae). Marine waters. Widely distributed. Experimental cultivation in Japan, China (Taiwan), etc. for feeding juvenile prawns.
Spirulina maxima (Seth & Gardner)
Blue green alga. (Oscillatoriaceae). Marine, brackish and fresh waters. Coast of Europe. Cultivated in open air ponds at Institute Français de Petrole, France.
Thalassiosira sp.
(Thalassiosiraceae). Mass culture in U.S.A. for feeding fish.
Undaria pinnatifida (Harvey) Suringar
Brown alga. (Lessoniaceae). Marine waters. East coast of Asia, especially China and Japan. Cultivated in Japan adopting long-line method with rope. Special cultivating field in Kagoshima City. Used as food in China and Japan with vinegar, after boiling or roasting.
Miscellaneous : ‘Lab-lab’ which is a biological complex of fungi, bacteria, diatoms, algae and small animals, is extensively cultivated in milkfish (‘Bangos’) nursery ponds in Philippines.
2.2 Angiosperms
Eleocharis planktaginea Robert Brown
Water chestnut. (Cyperaceae). Fresh waters. Java, Celebes. Perennial herb, used for basket work in Indonesia.
Eleocharis tuberosa Schutters
Water chestnut. (Cyperaceae). Fresh waters. Eastern India, China, Japan. Perennial herb, cultivated in China and Japan. Tuber consumed in Chinese dishes.
Hydrolea zeylanica (Linnaeus) Vahl
(Hydrophyllaceae). Fresh waters. Tropical Asia. Herbaceous plant. Young leaves are eaten as lalab with rice in Java. Leaves considered to be antiseptic.
Ipomoea aquaticia Forskål
Water spinach; Chinese cabbage. (Convolvulaceae). Fresh waters. Tropical Asia. Cultivated in some parts of Asia like China, Hong Kong, China (Taiwan), Indonesia, and Malaysia. Experimental cultivation in Fiji, Florida and Hawaii. Perennial creeping herb. Leaves and shoots are cooked and eaten.
Lemna sp.
Duckweed. (Lemnaceae). Fresh waters. Widely distributed. Generally encountered as weed in waters used for fish culture. However, cultivated in some Far East countries, in well-manured pits, by fish fry dealers, as food for young grass carp.
Nelumbium speciosum Willdenow
Lotus. (Nymphaeaceae). Fresh waters. Tropical Asia. Perennial. Boiled rhizomes, young leaves and dry seeds consumed in China, Japan, etc. Source of a starch, lotus meal. Also preserved in sugar. In Indo-China, stamens used for flavouring tea. In India cultivated for the flowers.
Nymphaea lotus Linnaeus
White lotus. (Nymphaeaceae). Fresh waters. Tropical Africa and Asia. Perennial. Root powder used for dyspepsia, dysentery and piles. Powdered seeds used as cure for skin diseases in Sudan. Ornamental flowers.
Nymphaea stellata Willdenow
Indian blue lotus. (Nymphaeaceae). Fresh waters. Southeast Asia, tropical Africa. Rhizomes, petiole and seeds are edible.
Oryza sativa Linnaeus (Aquatic varieties).
Rice. (Graminaceae). Fresh waters. Asia. Aquatic varieties cultivated in deep waters (5–9 m) in Assam and in west Bengal (India).
Trapa bicornis Linnaeus
Water chestnut. (Onagrariaceae). Fresh waters. Far East countries. Annual. Cultivated in China, Korea and Japan. Seeds used as food.
Trapa bispinosa Roxburgh
Water chestnut; Singhara Nut. (Onagrariaceae). Fresh waters. Tropical Asia. Cultivated in India, especially in Kashmir. Raw seeds and flour are edible. Dried seeds are source of starch.
Trapa natans Linnaeus
Water chestnut; water caltrop; Jesuits-nut. (Onagrariaceae). Fresh waters. Europe, Mediterranean, Asia. Introduced in North America and Australia. Cultivated mainly in Kashmir (India) for the seeds, which are used as food, and also made into rosaries.
Wolffia sp.
Duckweed. (Lemnaceae). Fresh waters. Widely distributed. Generally encountered as weed in waters used for fish culture. However, cultivated in some Far East countries, in well-manured pits, by fish fry dealers, as food for young grass carp.
