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The seagrass Posidonia oceanica is able to reproduce by asexual formation of plantlets directly in the inflorescence. Pseudoviviparous plantlets were observed during May 2004 in 26% of the inflorescences in a P. oceanica meadow off the island of Formentera (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean Sea). We do not know how frequently pseudovivipary occurs in Posidonia oceanica, nor the mechanisms triggering it, but this strategy can contribute significantly to short-distance dispersal and meadow maintenance, which is especially relevant in a species whose meadows can persist for thousands of years and whose colonization of new space occurs very slowly.
This work was supported by the Fisheries Department (Direcció General de Pesca) of the Balearic Government.
Peer reviewed