It is said that we know more about the surface of the moon than about the bottom of the oceans, but how much do we really know about our freshwater environments? More...

Given that there are probably over a thousand species of algae in Leicestershire and Rutland, the number of species recorded on NatureSpot is embarrassingly small. It is not coincidental that a major reason for this is because most algae are very difficult to identify. David Nicholls recently added to our total by discovering Gut Weed, Ulva intestinalis, at two locations in VC55. 

This is quite a surprising find as you may be familiar with this species from rockpooling during trips to the seaside. In fact this alga is happy in brackish water, and there are a few other inland records. Undoubtedly there would be more if more people were prepared to take on the challenge of identifying algae, but it is also the case that aquatic plants in general are vastly under recorded. However, Gut Weed is one of the easier species to identify. You can take that as a hint!