Plant of the month – Neptune’s Necklace

Have you ever found a string of beads in a rockpool? No, not the kind of beads that your aunty wears! We’re talking about Neptune’s Necklace. This special seaweed is only found in southern Australia and New Zealand.

Neptune’s Necklace can be found around Victoria’s coastline in rockpools and as a thick mat in the intertidal zone. Its small beads hold lots of water, which stop it from drying out when the tide is low. The way that Neptune’s Necklace grows in thick clumps creates important habitats for little marine animals like crabs and snails. No animals eat this seaweed because it tastes really, really bad!

It is found in many marine protected areas including Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary, Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary, Discovery Bay Marine National Park and Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary.

Williamstown Marine Ranger, Ellie Williams, has an important message for Junior Rangers about these little beauties: “Try to avoid trampling these special plants to help protect Victoria’s extraordinary rockpool life”.