Westella
| Westella | |
|---|---|
| |
| Westella botryoides | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Clade: | Viridiplantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Chlorophyceae |
| Order: | Sphaeropleales |
| Family: | Scenedesmaceae |
| Genus: | Westella De Wildeman, 1897 |
| Species: | W. botryoides
|
| Binomial name | |
| Westella botryoides (West) De Wildeman[1]
| |
Westella is a genus of green algae in the family Scenedesmaceae, containing the sole species Westella botryoides.[1] The species has a cosmopolitan distribution[2] and is planktonic in freshwater rivers and ponds.[1]
Westella botryoides consists of four-celled colonies (termed coenobia) up to 15 μm; these in turn may be joined to form compound colonies consisting of over a hundred cells and reaching up to 90 μm, attached to each other by the remnants of their parental cell walls.[2] The four cells are typically arranged in a square,[3] spherical but flattened when in contact with other cells. The cell walls are smooth; cells are uninucleate with a single, parietal chloroplast containing one pyrenoid.[1]
Two similar genera are Westellopsis and Coccoidesmus. Westellopsis differs in having chloroplasts without pyrenoids[2] and usually cells arranged in a line, while Coccoidesmus has cells arranged in a tetrahedral formation.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. "Westella". AlgaeBase. University of Galway. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
- ^ a b c Bicudo, Carlos E. M.; Menezes, Mariângela (2006). Gêneros de Algas de Águas Continentais do Brasil: chave para identificação e descrições (2 ed.). RiMa Editora. p. 508. ISBN 857656064X.
- ^ a b Wang, Qinghua; Hou, Ying; Li, Yanhui; Shi, Ying; Liu, Guoxiang (2024). "Phylogenetic study on Scenedesmacae with the description of a new genus Coccoidesmus gen. nov. (Chlorophyceae, Chlorophyta) and chloroplast genome analyses". Journal of Oceanology and Limnology. 42 (4): 1272–1285. Bibcode:2024JOL....42.1272W. doi:10.1007/s00343-023-3139-9.
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