Dictyosphaeria

Dictyosphaeria · also called Mosaic Snakeskin, Green Bubble Weed

Easy to grow and hard to remove. Dictyosphaeria is a firm green macroalgae built from a mesh of small, bubble-like cells with a mosaic, scale-like pattern. It spreads in sheets or bubbly growths. D. cavernosa overgrew and displaced corals on reefs in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, so keep it well away from corals or out of a reef altogether.

Educational only. Some KinStation entries are reviewed by licensed veterinarians, but none can replace an in-person exam. Always consult a licensed veterinarian or board-certified specialist for diagnosis, treatment, or any decision affecting your pet's health.

Quick facts

Category	Marine & Algae
Family	Siphonocladaceae
Native origin	Widespread in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean
Care difficulty	Beginner
Light	Medium light
Pet toxicity	Toxicity unknown

Light

Grows well across a wide range of light, so moderate reef lighting is more than enough. A reference entry notes it copes with various intensities, which helps it persist on live rock. Reducing light is not a recorded way to control it, so plan on physical removal if it spreads.

Water

Standard reef parameters: 23-27 C (74-80 F), salinity ~1.025 SG, pH 8.1-8.4. It is undemanding and can do very well even in tanks with very low nutrients, so clean water will not stop it. In Kaneohe Bay its spread was linked to sewage, and it declined after the sewage was diverted.

Soil & potting

Anchors on rock, coral and limestone rather than in sand, and it usually arrives on live rock. If you keep it, confine it to its own stone. To remove it, take out the colonized rock, scrape it outside the tank and rinse it, or siphon the bubbles off carefully without breaking them.

Environment — humidity, temperature, placement

Suits a separate macroalgae tank at standard reef temperature, 23-27 C (74-80 F), with moderate flow. Keep it away from corals. One reference lists it as unsuitable for reef and fish-only tanks, so check new live rock for grape-like clusters before adding it to a system.

Propagation

Spreads in sheets and by daughter segments that form as cells inflate. When the walls wear or rupture, internal cells are released and can spread through the tank, so do not break it up in the water. If you want it, let it grow on its own rock and scrape off any spread outside the tank.

Toxicity detail

No toxicity data for tank animals was found, so the rating stays unknown. The real risk is smothering: it overgrew corals in Kaneohe Bay, so keep it off corals. Tangs, rabbitfish, some crabs and Diadema urchins are listed as possible grazers, though some keepers report no success with them.

Varieties & cultivars

Natural forms are the wild species; cultivars are selectively-bred colour or variegation forms of the same plant.

Natural forms1

Mosaic Snakeskin

Dictyosphaeria cavernosa. A stiff green alga with small mosaic-like veins across the thallus that look like scales. It can spread in sheets or form bubble-like growths.

Keep it away from corals, as this species has overgrown and smothered corals on Hawaiian reefs.