Taxonomy of Eelgrass Zostera marina

*Note: The taxonomy of seagrasses is continuously changing as the technology to compare them improves, including genetic studies.  

Characteristics of genus Zostera

Characteristics of Z. marina

Distribution

Zostera marina can be found on both coasts of the United States as well as throughout Europe and eastern Asia (see map). Although typically thought of as a cold water species, it grows as far south as the Carolinas on the U.S. east coast and the Baha Peninsula on the west coast.  This species is usually a perennial, but in Mexico, Z.. marina grows as an annual, possibly an adaptation to the heat of summer.

Origin

 Zostera is believed to have originated during the Tertiary period in the Western North Pacific Ocean (McRoy, 1968; den Hartog, 1970).  The seagrass as well as a number of other marine organisms most likely invaded the North Atlantic Ocean through the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean during the late Tertiary (Durham and MacNeil, 1967).

References:

den Hartog, C. 1970. The Sea Grasses of the World. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

Durham, J.W. and F.S. MacNeil. 1967. Cenoszoic migrations of marine invertebrates through the Bering Strait region. Pp. 326-349 in The Bering Land Bridge, D.M. Hopkins, (Editor). Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

Green EP and Short FT (eds) (2003) World Atlas of Seagrasses. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Larkum, A.W.D., Orth, R.J., Duarte. C.M. (Editors), 2006. Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and Conservation. Springer.

McRoy, C.P. 1968. The distribution and biogeography of Zostera marina (eelgrass) in Alaska. Pac. Sci. 22:507-513.