portrait
Pterosperma (tea-roe-sperm-a), a prasinophyte green alga with four long flagella. Phase contrast microscopy.  data on this strain. This image is of material from Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton, images taken by David Patterson and Bob Andersen. Image copyright: Bob Andersen and D. J. Patterson, image used under license to MBL (micro*scope).
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Pterosperma
From the collection
Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton (CCMP)
| Description of Pterosperma: Unicellular algae occurring in two very different stages; main, coccoid, Phycoma stage is spherical, 14-230 µm in diameter and surrounded by a double wall, surface of wall is smooth, papillose or poroid and bears one or more wings protruding from the surface, initially uninuclear and contains numerous chloroplasts, each with a pyrenoid; division give rise to formation of a large number of motile cells, motile cell have 4 flagella, held together as a single, thick 'compound' flagellum behind the swimming cell, a chloroplast with a pyrenoid but no eyespot, extrusomes present; all surfaces covered with organic scales, flagella with an underlayer of small square scales overlain by Limuloid ones, in addition to two opposite rows of hair-shaped scales; cell body with a three-layered scale cover: release of the motile cells occurring 2-3 days on either side of the new or full moon; widely distributed in the marine plankton. |
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