Champia laingii facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Champia laingii
(AM AK143927) Type specimen
Scientific classification

Champia laingii is a special kind of red seaweed. It only lives in New Zealand and nowhere else in the world! This makes it endemic to New Zealand.

This seaweed is quite pretty. It's usually dark red, but sometimes it shines with amazing blue or green colours, like a rainbow! It can grow up to 40 centimeters long. Often, you'll see it looking like a tangled mat of seaweed.

You can usually find Champia laingii near the edges of rock pools when the tide is low. It also likes to grow on bigger seaweeds.

Where Does Champia laingii Live?

Champia laingii can sometimes disappear from a spot for a long time. But don't worry, it usually comes back!

You can find this seaweed near the low-water mark. It likes the edges of shallow pools. Often, it grows on other large seaweeds. These include Carpophyllum maschalocarpum, Xiphophora chondrophylla, and sometimes Zonaria sinclairii. These bigger seaweeds help keep Champia laingii safe.

It can also attach itself to pieces of shell, sand, and rocks. This seaweed seems to prefer shallow pools and channels. It likes places where water flows gently over flat rock areas.

How Was Champia laingii Discovered?

The very first official sample of Champia laingii is called the type specimen. This important sample was found by Vincent Wilhelm Lindauer.

He discovered it on Long Beach, which is in Russell. This area is part of the beautiful Bay of Islands in New Zealand. The sample is now kept safe as AK 143927.