Marthea Pascher, 1918: 259
Classification:
Empire Eukaryota
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Chlorophyta
Class Chlorophyceae
Order Sphaeropleales
Family Characiaceae
Holotype species: Marthea tetras Pascher
Taxonomic status: currently recognized as a distinct genus.
Description: Four celled cruciate colonies with cells in single plane; with 16 cells prior to sporangial release. Colony and cell dimensions not recorded. Cells spindle shaped to fusiform with basal end truncate and attached to central mucilaginous mass; upper end free and quickly tapering to point. Cell walls smooth. Cells uninucleate; single chloroplast band shaped and parietal with single pyrenoid. Asexual reproduction by autospores; four per sporangium. Autospores originally amoeboid, with contractile vacuoles and stigma, before aligning into new colony prior to sporangial release. Flagellated stages and sexual reproduction unknown. Marthea planktonic in freshwater; known only from original collections in Czechoslovakia. Genus poorly known and requires complete reinvestigation.
NCBI Nucleotide Sequences
Numbers of names and species: There is only one species or infraspecific name in the database at present, which has 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):
Marthea tetras Pascher C - type
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Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera,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=47396
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
Michael 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 26 May 2013.
Algaebase taxon LSID: urn:lsid:algaebase.org:taxname:5452
