Having or characterized by external fruiting bodies or spore-producing structures.
From Greek 'ekto-' (outside) and 'karpos' (fruit), with suffix '-ous' meaning 'having or full of,' describing algae with exposed reproductive organs.
Ectocarpous algae are basically showing off their reproductive strategy—unlike plants that hide seeds inside fruits, these algae release spores directly from external structures, a radical transparency encoded in one strange word.
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