Halodule wrightii

Ascherson, 1882

Shoalgrass, Shoalweed

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Tropical and subtropical waters along the southern Atlantic coastline and the Gulf of Mexico.

Natural Environment: Inhabits soft sand and mud substrates in coastal and estuarine areas of the tropics and subtropics where it can be found as deep as 65 feet (20 m).

Aquarium Suitability: Requires a deep organic-rich sand bed and bright light and slow water movement, and is one of the better seagrasses for seagrass-type environments.

Often a colonizer of disturbed areas where turtle grass and manatee grass cannot grow and frequently found in waters too shallow or too deep for other seagrasses to grow. Of all the seagrasses shoalgrass/shoalweed can withstand the widest ranges of temperatures and salinities than other seagrasses.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Tracheophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Alismatales

Family: Cymodoceaceae

Genus: Halodule