Encrusting fan-leaf alga
Lobophora variegata
(Lamouroux) Womersley ex Oliveira, 1977
Description:
Thin, fan-shaped blades encrusting the substrate, often overlapping in a shingle-like pattern. Shades of green-brown to tan to brown.
Habitat:
Grow in most reef environments, encrusting great areas of shaded, rocky substrates. Especially abundant on undercut wall faces along deep drop-offs. Blades surfaces often covered with sediment and encrusted with epiphytes.
Distribution:
South Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean.