Home / Chlorophyceae / unicell / Non-flagellated / Polyedriopsis
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Name derivation:
Classification:
Polyedriopsis Schmidle 1899; 1 of 3 species descriptions are currently accepted taxonomically (Guiry and Guiry 2013). Order Sphaeropleales; Family Sphaeropleaceae
Morphology:
Unicellular algae with tetrahedral to polyhedral cells 12-25 μm diameter, with concave sides and clusters of spines radiating from truncately rounded corners. Spines 25-50 μm long, mostly in clusters of 3-5, gradually tapering from base to apex and mostly with hollow bases. Spines similar to Scenedesmus in ultrastructure. P. spinulosa previously assigned to Tetraedron by some authors. (Guiry and Guiry 2013).
Similar genera:
Habitat:
Planktonic and rare in freshwater lakes and ponds; reported mostly from Europe and North America, but with additional reports from Asia and Australia.
References:
Guiry, M.D. and G.M. Guiry 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 08 May 2013. Schmidle, W. 1899. Algologische Notizen. XIII. Allgemeine botanische Zeitschrift für Systematik, Floristik, Pflanzengeographie 5: 39-41.