Gloeochloris Pascher, 1932

Holotype species: Gloeochloris planctonica Pascher

Original publication and holotype designation: Pascher, A. (1932). Über einige neue oder kritische Heterokonten. (Beiträge zur Kenntnis der einheimischen Algenflora. II.). Archiv für Protistenkunde 77: 305-359.

Precise date of publication: 2 June 1932

Description: Colonial organisms, free-living or adhering to a support, with pale yellow-green color, of spherical or elliptical form and becoming macroscopic with age and up to 20 mm diameter. The general mucilage is typically homogeneous, but sometimes young cells or division stages surrounded by one or two concentric, delicate layers which rapidly disappear. The thallus center is not empty but much softer than the periphery which is nearly cartilaginous. Cells 8-15 &m long or diameter, 8-11 &m wide, spherical, ellipsoidal or irregularly ovoid, all close to the same dimension, localized at the periphery of the colony or in a radiating manner. Cells can be metabolic or even with amoeboid movement inside the mucilage. Adult cells with three or four (rarely more) chloroplasts, these parietal, laminate or cup shaped, localized in the non metabolic portion of the cell which also contains one (or even two) contractile vacuoles and which faces the center of the colony; without pyrenoids. A small pyrenoid can be observed in amoeboid cells. Reserve products of oil granules, lipids and highly refringent rod-shaped particles. Vegetative reproduction by longitudinal, oblique divisions. The resulting daughter cells are thus not identical and the cells are arranged parallel to one another. Thallus cells can also be transformed into highly metabolic zoospores 14 &m long, with one or two contractile vacuoles, one to three chloroplasts, with or without a stigma, and one or two unequal flagella. Endogenous cysts with smooth cell walls and with two equal or unequal valves reported. Gloeochloris in freshwater in ponds or brooks, floating or attached to the mucilage of other aquatic plants. Reported only from central and western Europe and South America. Species distinguished based on the form and dimensions of cells, habitat (planktonic or attached), chloroplast number, zoospore structure and their flagellar number. Gloeochloris smithiana Pascher 1932 (=Chlorosaccus fluidus Luther 1899 sensu G. M. Smith 1933) from the United States was considered uncertain by Pascher, but the attached thallus is similar to G. planctonica and with its biflagellate zoospores it is similar to G. minor Pascher. It is distinguished from other species by the large number of chloroplasts and the absence of information regarding the presence of contractile vacuoles.

Information contributed by: A. Couté & C. Cardinal-Legrand. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2021-10-04 by M.D. Guiry.

Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Gender: This genus name is currently treated as feminine.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Kawai, H. & Nakayama, T. (2015). Introduction (Heterokontobionta p.p.), Cryptophyta, Dinophyta, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta (except Coscinodiscophyceae, Mediophyceae, Fragilariophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Phaeophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae), Chlorarachniophyta, Euglenophyta. In: Syllabus of plant families. Adolf Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. Ed. 13. Phototrophic eukaryotic Algae. Glaucocystophyta, Cryptophyta, Dinophyta/Dinozoa, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta/Ochrophyta, Chlorarachnniophyta/Cercozoa, Chlorophyta, Streptophyta p.p. (Frey, W. Eds), pp. 11-64, 103-139. Stuttgart: Borntraeger Science Publishers.

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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: https://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=46483

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 04 October 2021. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 24 April 2024