Abstract
THE transmission of light in coastal waters is such that penetration is greatest in the blue-green and least in the red region of the visible spectrum1. This has led to the view that the phycobilins, accessory pigments that give rise to the characteristic colour of red algae, are responsible for photosynthesis by these plants because, unlike chlorophyll, the pigments readily absorb blue-green light2. Evidence in favour of this theory of complementary chromatic adaptation has been obtained by Haxo and Blinks from experiments in which the action spectra of several marine, red algae were found to show a fair correlation with the absorption curves of phycoerythrin and phycocyanin3.
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