Home > Marine Life > Red Seaweeds > Kappaphycus alvarezii

Updated 3/20/2025

Family Solieriaceae

WEST PACIFIC / HAWAII

Kappaphycus alvarezii  

Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 4 feet
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 3 feet

SMOTHERING SEAWEED

Large warty thicket-forming species accidentally released in Kaneohe Bay.  Invasive since it grows rapidly, smothering coral and native algae.  In the tropics this genus is farmed to produce kappa-carrageenan.  Kappaphycus striatus has thinner branches and fewer spines arranged in rows.  Native to Malaysia & the Philippines but widely cultivated.