Description: Thallus cylindrical, erect to 8 cms long. Branches irregularly. Erect axes consisting of 1axial cell and 5 periaxial cells surrounded by 1 - 2 layers subcortex and a single layer of cortex. Apices obtuse. Mature latteral branches constricted at the base. Iridescent when alive.

Habitat: Rare. On pebbles in mud in the upper sublittoral to 4 m.

Distribution: Mainly from the southern coasts of England: Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Sussex, Suffolk and the Channel Isles. Europe: Mediterranean, Atlantic coasts of Spain and France. Further afield: the Canary Islands and Morocco.

Key Identification Features:

• Bright blue iridescence when alive.

Distribution Map from NBN: Chondria coerulescens at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Chondria coerulescens at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

WoRMS: Chondria coerulescens at World Register of Marine Species. Accepted name: Chondria coerulescens (J.Agardh) Sauvageau, 1897. AphiaID: 1311369.

Classification: Biota; Plantae; Biliphyta; Rhodophyta; Eurhodophytina; Florideophyceae; Rhodymeniophycidae; Ceramiales; Rhodomelaceae; Chondrieae; Chondria