The estuarine red alga, Bostrychia radicans, was subjected to osmotic stresses ranging from hypo-osmotic (9.9%o) to hyperosmotic conditions (37.4 %o). The growth rate decreased with increasing salinities and showed a maximum in a mesohaline medium, while the photosynthetic rate and the chlorophyll a content increased under hyper-osmotic conditions. The rate of respiration remained constant over the salinity range tested. B. radicans revealed typical characteristics of "shade plants" having a low light compensation point at 3-4 ~tE m -2 s -1 correlated with a low photon flux density of 70-100 ~E m-2s -1 for saturation of photosynthesis. These physiological properties may explain the success of B. radicans in estuarine habitats,