Fucus is a genus of seaweed that lives in the intertidal zones of rocky shores. A common species found on the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America is Fucus vesiculosus or bladder wrack. On the Pacific coast of North America, the most common species is Fucus gardneri.

Fucus distichus is the organism used as a model to study the development of cell polarity. F. distichus has many advantages for polarity studies. It forms an apolar zygote that can develop polarity given a varying number of gradients.

The seven species recorded from the British Isles are:-

• Fucus ceranoides Linnaeus

• Fucus cottonii M.J.Wynn & Magne

• Fucus distichus Linnaeus

• Fucus evanescens C.Agardh

• Fucus serratus Linnarus

• Fucus spiralis Linnaeus

• Fucus vesiculosus Linnaeus

Zonation

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Fucus spiralis, Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus along with Pelvetia canaliculata and Ascophyllum nodosum form zones on the shore of all but the most sheltered and exposed sites on the shores of the British Isles.

Medical

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In 2005, it was announced that bacteria grown on Fucus have the ability to attack and kill the MRSA superbug .

References

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Brown algae

Blæretang-slægten | fucus | Morszczyn