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Cystoseira abies-marina
Distribution: Azores, Madeira, Savage Islands, Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Mediterranean.
Protection Status: indirectly protected under the Habitats Directive.
Brown leafy alga, with erect axis with numerous thorny branches. With about 1-2 millimetres thickness, the stalks may reach about 50 centimetres in length but do not normally exceed 15 to 20 centimetres. It is common throughout the archipelago in the lower limit of the intertidal zone, in puddles, as well as in the top submerged area where most hydrodynamics situations occur.