Home / Chlorophyceae / Filamentous / Branched / Trentepohlia
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Name derivation:
After German botanist Johann F. Trentepohl, 1748 – 1806.
Classification:
Order Trentepohliales, Family Trentepohliaceae; includes ~ 35 species (Liu et al. 2012). Appears to be polyphyletic based on SSU rDNA analyses (Ibid). Printzina and Chroolepis are considered synonyms in Phycokey.
Morphology:
Branched filaments that produce sufficient haematochrome (β-charotene) to turn various shades of color from green (low red pigment) to yellow, orange and vivid red (high red pigment).
Similar genera:
Cephaleuros was paraphyletic in SSU rDNA phylogeny because T. dialepta clustered with Cephaleuros species (Liu et al. 2012).
Habitat:
Terrestrial or ‘sub-aerial’ (high humidity such as foggy areas), grows on rocks, tree bark, wood, leaves, walls, and a variety of artificial substrates. Capable of withstanding cold dry winters (Liu et al. 2012).
Citing Phycokey:
Baker, A.L. et al. . Phycokey -- an image based key to Algae (PS Protista), Cyanobacteria, and other aquatic objects. University of New Hampshire Center for Freshwater Biology. http://cfb.unh.edu/phycokey/phycokey.htm
References:
Liu, G., Q. Zhang, H Zhu, and Z. Hu 2012. Massive Trentepohlia-Bloom in a Glacier Valley of Mt. Gongga, China, and a new variety of Trentepohlia (Chlorophyta). PLoS One. 2012; 7(7): e37725. (online)