Specimen image via iDigBio · CC0
Coelastrum
Sign in to saveCoelastrum is a genus of green algae in the Scenedesmaceae family. It is a common component of the phytoplankton in freshwater habitats such as ponds, lakes, waterfalls, and temporary pools of water, particularly eutrophic ones. The genus has a more or less cosmopolitan distribution, although some species appear to have more restricted geographical distributions. The name comes from the Greek terms koilos, meaning hollow, and astron, meaning star.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumChlorophyta
- ClassChlorophyceae
- OrderSphaeropleales
- FamilyScenedesmaceae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 15
- With media
- 15
- Family
- Scenedesmaceae
- Collections
- NY, US, OSC
- Recorded in
- Ecuador, United States, Germany, Puerto Rico
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Description
- Identification
- Taxonomy
- Uses
- Species list
- References
Coelastrum is a genus of green algae in the Scenedesmaceae family. It is a common component of the phytoplankton in freshwater habitats such as ponds, lakes, waterfalls, and temporary pools of water, particularly eutrophic ones. The genus has a more or less cosmopolitan distribution, although some species appear to have more restricted geographical distributions. The name comes from the Greek terms koilos, meaning hollow, and astron, meaning star.
==Description== Coelastrum consists of round colonies of cells (termed coenobia) of 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 cells. Cells are spherical to polygonal, and are connected to each other via extensions of their cell walls to form hollow spheres. The cells may have various ornamentation such as protuberans, and have one parietal chloroplast with a single pyrenoid.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Coelastrum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.