Spirulina Turpin ex Gomont, 1892: 96, 249
Holotype species: Spirulina major Kützing ex Gomont
Original publication and holotype designation:Gomont, M. (1892 '1893'). Monographie des Oscillariées (Nostocacées homocystées). Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique, Series 7 16: 91-264, Plates 1-7.
Download PDF
Taxonomic status: currently recognized as a distinct genus.
Description: Filamentous; filaments unbranched, always without sheaths, rarely solitary (free floating), usually in clusters or in fine mats which are to macroscopically visible and covering the substrate, regularly screw-like coiled along the whole trichome length, with unchanged width of screws (very rarely is the spiral form eliminated); screws are very tight, touching one to another or with small spaces between them, trichomes:spirals width ratio being (2)-2.5-(4). Trichomes isopolar, 0.5-3(6?) _m wide, uniseriate, composed of cylindrical cells, unconstricted at the crosswalls which are usually not visible in the light microscope, not attenuated towards the ends, intensely motile (rotation). Cells without aerotopes and prominent granules, more or less isodiametric, less (?) or longer than wide, usually with homogeneous content, pale blue-green, olive-green or pinkish, with changeable PC:PE ratio, with asymmetrically localized thylakoids near the "outer" walls, with special perforation of the side walls (see Guglielmi and Cohen-Bazire 1982 compared to all species); end cells widely rounded, without thickened cell walls or calyptras. Heterocytes and akinetes absent. Cell division crosswise, perpendicular to the long axis of a trichome, daughter cells grow Å to the original size before the next division. All cells capable of division. Reproduction by fragmentation of trichomes into motile hormogonia without necridic cells. Several species are benthic or grow in metaphyton of freshwater biotopes, usually in not heavy artificially polluted waters, in detritus among water plants. Several species prefer thermal and mineral springs, "Sulphuretum" -communities, or halophilic biotopes (marine coastal and brackish waters).
Common names
(as Spirulina)
Aztec: Tecuitlatl (Lembi & Waaland 1988).
Chadic Arabic: Dihe (Lembi & Waaland 1988).
NCBI Nucleotide Sequences
Numbers of names and species: There are 101 species (and infraspecific) names in the database at present, of which 59 have been flagged as currently accepted taxonomically.
Names: ('C' indicates a name that is currently accepted taxonomically; 'S' a homotypic or heterotypic synonym; 'U' indicates a name of uncertain taxonomic status, but which has been subjected to some verification nomenclaturally; 'P' indicates a preliminary AlgaeBase entry that has not been subjected to any kind of verification. For more information on a species click on it to activate a link to the Species database):
Spirulina abbreviata Lemmermann C
Spirulina adriatica Hauck C
Spirulina agilis Kufferath C
Spirulina agilissima (Lagerheim) Kirchner C
Spirulina albida Kolkwitz C
Spirulina ardissoni Cohn C
Spirulina argentina Frenguelli S
Spirulina baltica B.Martens & Pankow P
Spirulina bayannurensis Li et al. P
Spirulina breviarticulata (Setchell & Gardner) Geitler P
Spirulina breviarticulata var. anguiformis P.González Guerrero S
Spirulina breviaticulata (Setchell & N.L. Gardner) Geitler C
Spirulina cabrerae P.González C
Spirulina caldaria var. magnifica Copeland S
Spirulina caldaria Tilden C
Spirulina cavanillesiana P.González C
Spirulina condensata Welsh P
Spirulina corakiana Playfair C
Spirulina curta (Lemmermann) Geitler S
Spirulina flavovirens Wislouch C
Spirulina funiformis Vouk P
Spirulina fusiformis Voronikhin S
Spirulina gessneri Schiller C
Spirulina gigantea Schmidle S
Spirulina gomontiana var. crassa A.B.Gupta C
Spirulina gomontiana (Setchell) Geitler C
Spirulina gomontii Guwinski C
Spirulina gordiana P.González C
Spirulina gracilis Gruia P
Spirulina gracillima Rabenhorst P
Spirulina innatans Welsh P
Spirulina jenneri f. tenuior (Hansgirg) Elenkin P
Spirulina jenneri f. vaginata Rabenhorst P
Spirulina jenneri (Stizenberger) Geitler S
Spirulina jenneri var. platensis Nordstedt S
Spirulina labyrinthiformis Gomont C
Spirulina labyrinthiformis (Linnaeus) Gomont C
Spirulina laxa G.M.Smith C
Spirulina laxa f. major C
Spirulina laxissima G.S.West C
Spirulina laxissima f. major C
Spirulina legitima Schiller C
Spirulina magnifica (Copeland) Anagnostidis C
Spirulina major Kützing ex Gomont C - type
Spirulina major Kützing S
Spirulina margaritae Frémy C
Spirulina mariae Margalef P
Spirulina massartii (Kufferath) Geitler C
Spirulina maxima (Setchell & N.L.Gardner) Geitler S
Spirulina mediteranea K.N.Deckenbach P
Spirulina mediterranea K.N.Deckenbach C
Spirulina meneghiniana Zanardini ex Gomont S
Spirulina meneghiniana (Zanardini) Zanardini S
Spirulina miniata Hauck C
Spirulina minima A.Wurtz P
Spirulina mukdensis Noda C
Spirulina neumannii Schmidle C
Spirulina nodosa Schiller C
Spirulina nordstedtii Nordstedt ex Gomont C
Spirulina oceanica (P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan) P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan S
Spirulina okensis (C.Meyer) Geitler C
Spirulina oscillarioides Turpin ex Gomont P
Spirulina oscillariorides Turpin S
Spirulina platensis var. tenuis C.B.Rao C
Spirulina platensis var. non-constricta J.C.Banerji S
Spirulina platensis var. californica N.L.Gardner ex T.V.Desikachary & N.Jeeji Bai C
Spirulina platensis (Gomont) Geitler S
Spirulina princeps West & G.S.West C
Spirulina pseudotenuissima P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan P
Spirulina pseudovacuolata Utermöhl S
Spirulina regis L.Hoffmann C
Spirulina rhaphidioides Geitler S
Spirulina robusta Welsh P
Spirulina rosea P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan ex Gomont C
Spirulina rosea P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan S
Spirulina schroederi Koppe C
Spirulina sigmoidea Schiller C
Spirulina socialis N.L.Gardner P
Spirulina spirulinoides f. tenuis R.N.Singh C
Spirulina spirulinoides (Ghose) Geitler C
Spirulina subsalsa Oersted S
Spirulina subsalsa Oerstedt ex Gomont C
Spirulina subsalsa var. oceanica Gomont ex Forti C
Spirulina subsalsa f. oceanica (P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan) Gomont S
Spirulina subsalsa f. versicolor P
Spirulina subsalsa var. crassior Virieux C
Spirulina subtilissima Kützing ex Gomont C
Spirulina subtilissima Kützing S
Spirulina supersalsa Schiller C
Spirulina tenerrima Kützing S
Spirulina tenerrima Kützing ex Gomont C
Spirulina tenuior (Lagerheim) Kirchner C
Spirulina tenuis (Brühl & Biswas) Geitler C
Spirulina tenuissima var. crassior Virieux C
Spirulina tenuissima Kützing C
Spirulina thermalis Meneghini ex Gomont P
Spirulina turfosa P.L.Crouan & H.H.Crouan P
Spirulina undulans K.N.Deckenbach C
Spirulina versicolor Cohn ex Gomont C
Spirulina versicolor var. laxa Gomont C
Spirulina weissii Drouet P
Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera,
organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA)
and intended to be published in CD format.
These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above.
The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.
Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.
Linking to this page: http://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=43080
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
Wendy Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 25 May 2013.
Algaebase taxon LSID: urn:lsid:algaebase.org:taxname:8546
