After 40 Years, Scientist Finally Identifies Mysterious 'Pink Zebra' Seaweed

Forty years ago, while studying a coral-like seaweed habitat for her PhD, marine biologist Prof. Christine Maggs found a tiny fragment of pink-striped seaweed she had never seen before. It would become a lifelong obsession and a scientific puzzle that took four decades to solve.

The seaweed lived on "maerl," carpets of free-living calcified algae that create some of the richest habitats in the sea, comparable in biodiversity to coral reefs. Despite years of searching through scientific literature and fleeting glimpses of the tiny organism, Prof. Maggs never had enough material to formally confirm it as a new species.

The breakthrough came two years ago, when divers surveying maerl beds off the coast of Cornwall, England, collected a sample that matched her long-sought seaweed. Prof. Maggs bought a wine fridge to store and grow the delicate specimen in cool, dark conditions until it was large enough for DNA sequencing.

With help from a colleague's genetic analysis, Prof. Maggs confirmed the seaweed was indeed elusive and new to science. It has now been named Ceramium ruenessianum, and a sample has joined the Natural History Museum's official collection. Scientific divers have nicknamed it "pink-zebra weed."

Experts say the discovery underscores how much remains unknown about maerl beds, which are classified as a threatened and declining habitat in UK waters. Only four maerl sites are currently protected, and researchers hope the finding will strengthen the case for safeguarding these fragile underwater ecosystems.