Moss and Algae, How different are they?

Based on observation, these two organisms are may seem similar but worlds apart. Going back to their origin of classification, all organisms belong to one of five Kingdoms which is Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. Based on our focus, Kingdom Protoctista includes algae, protozoans, oomycota and slime mould. Kingdom Plantae on the other hand includes bryophytes(moss), pterophytes, lycophytes, cycadophytes and anthophytes.

Algae

Halimeda sp., a green algae taken from Teluk Kemang.

Algae are photosynthetic eukaryotes living in fully aquatic ecosystems which includes both freshwater and marine. All algae are thallophytes meaning they have a single thallus with no stem, roots or leaves. However, algae are able to attach themselves onto a substrate using their holdfast. They are also autotrophic and have photosynthetic pigments which is divided into four division that includes Chlorophyta (green algae), Phaeophyta (brown algae), Rhodophyta (red algae) and Bacillariophyta (diatoms).

Dictyota dichotoma, a brown algae taken from Teluk Kemang.

Basicly, Algae are a much simple form of aquatic plants compared to the terrestrial moss which is well developed.

Mosses

photo courtesy of Google

Mosses are considered as the simplest land plants and they are not well adapted for life on land as they prefer moist and shady environment. The phylum Bryophyta include two class which is Class Hepatica that includes liverworts and Class  Musci that includes moss. Some of them shows root like, stem like and leaf like organs but these are not true roots, stem and leaves. Unlike algae, moss attach to their substrate by rhizoids.



Therefore, these two organisms can be easily distinguished from one another by observing their characteristics and environment.