Griffithsia pacifica has a life history that you typically find in other red algae. The sexual stage (gametophyte), however, occurs rarely in this species. Actual photographs of various aspects of the tetrasporophyte stage can be found below.

Tetrasporophyte thallus

Photo taken under a dissecting scope.

Close-up of a tetrasporophyte thallus, detailing the ring of asci that hold the tetrasporophytes.

Photo taken on a compound scope at 100x.

A single tetraspore extracted from a tetrasporophyte ascus.

Photo taken on a compound scope at 200x.

Another tetraspore with multiple nuclei visible. The clear structure in the bottom-right corner is the ascus which hold the tetraspore. It is not easily visible in this image, but the asci are dimpled, resembling a golf ball texture.

Photo taken on a compound scope at 400x.