Nitella flexilis (Linnaeus) C.Agardh 1824

Publication Details
Nitella flexilis (Linnaeus) C.Agardh 1824: 124

Published in: Agardh, C.A. (1824). Systema algarum. pp. [i]-xxxvii, [1]-312. Lundae [Lund]: Literis Berlingianis [Berling].

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Publication date: probably September 1824

Type Species
The type species (lectotype) of the genus Nitella is Nitella opaca (C.Agardh ex Bruzelius) C.Agardh.

Status of Name
This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Basionym
Chara flexilis Linnaeus

Type Information
Type locality: "Habititat in Europae maritimis" [Maritime Europe]; (Linnaeus 1753: 1157) Neotype (Henley, near Ipswich, Suffolk; designated by Wood 1960: 224): Buddle?; no date; BM-SL; (Wood 1960: 224) Notes: Proposed conserved type (Gregor et al., 2019): [United Kingdom, England], E. Sussex, Catsfield / [Mai 1895]/Salmon (BM 13735408).

General Environment
This is a freshwater species.

Description
Nitella flexilis differ from Nitella opaca by being monoecious. It is not possible to separate the two species in sterile condition.

Habitat
Nitella flexilis is found in many types of habitats; Lobelia lakes, Potamogeton-lakes, high mountain lakes, small ponds, ditches, rivers and also slightly brackish water, but it seems to prefer soft oligotrophic waters. N. flexilis is also found in cold areas. Kashimura (1969) found that the species developed best at low temperatures, with the best growth of the gametangia at 5-10oC. The species has fertile plants from May to September and ripe, black oospores from July onwards. N. flexilis var. fryeri is markedly protandrous. It has been found in Norway. In some lakes, probably with unfavourable conditions (temperature) one can find only sterile specimens which must be named Nitella opaca vel flexilis.

Similar Species
Nitella flexilis differ from Nitella opaca by being monoecious. It is not possible to separate the two species in sterile condition.

Created: 11 April 2002 by M.D. Guiry.

Last updated: 20 January 2025

Verification of Data
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Taxonomic note
= N. acuminata A.Br (Muller et al., 2017). - (31 October 2017) - G.M. Guiry

Distributional note
Nitella flexilis is a cosmopolitan species, and it is also widespread in Europe. In the Nordic countries it is found in Sweden (Hasslow 1931, specimens from UPS and S), Known distribution of Nitella flexilis in the area. Finds after 1970. Rings are old finds and finds in Denmark (Olsen 1944). Finds (after 1960) in Shetland, Orkney and Scotland are after Moore (1986). Stars on the Greenland map is N. opaca vel flexilis. References are given in the text. Denmark (Olsen 1944); Finland (Langangen et al. 2002), Norway (Langangen 1974, 2007), Faroe Islands (Langangen 1996), Iceland (Langangen 1972) and Greenland (Langangen et al. 1996). In Norway the species is found scattered through the country. The species is also found in Shetland, Orkney and Scotland (Moore 1986). In Finland this species is scattered throughout most of the country. In Sweden, where the finds are after Hasslow (1931) there are very few finds in northern parts, which most probably is due to lack of collections. The finds in North Sweden are based on specimens in the herbaria of Stockholm (S) and Uppsala (UPS). In Norway there is a similar situation. Nitella flexilis is found over large geographical areas in the Nordic area, and together with the finds in Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland it makes up the northern border for the European distribution range. "Nitella flexilis is a cosmopolitan species. It occurs almost everywhere (except arctic regions) in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere the species is widespread in the southern part of South America and New Zealand. Beside this, some single findings in the central part of Africa, the southern part of India and the eastern part of Australia are documented (Korsch, 2018). In Europe the species can be found in almost all countries; larger distribution gaps are most likely due to insufficient sampling. For most countries, N. flexilis has been recorded only in freshwater. Reliable records from brackish-water habitats are only available for Finland and Sweden. Eichwald (1849) mentions an occurrence of this species in Haapsalu and Kuressaare Bay (western Estonia), but recently, it could not be found there. Herbarium speci-mens to document these records are lacking. There are no recent, but there are three former records from brackish water sites in Finland (Langangen et al., 2002; Luther, 1951b). Additionally, there are 18 recent and 15 former collections with sterile spec-imens of N. flexilis or N. opaca from brackish water (Langangen et al., 2002). For Sweden, two records from brackish water exist from the northern part of the Bothnian Bay (Västerbotten, Norrbotten) (Blindow, 2000a). According to Hasslow (1931), the species is occasionally found in brackish water. He mentions one location in Väster-botten and another in the coastal sea of the archipelago of Stockholm. The plants collected from Stockholm, however, are sterile (LD, C) and thus cannot be distin-guished from N. opaca. Data from the Mediterranean and Maghreb can be found in Blazencic et al. 2006; Bazzichelli and Abdelahad, 2009; Mouronval et al. 2015; Muller et al., 2017; Becker, 2019)." (Pall & al. 2024). - (05 May 2020) - M.D. Guiry

Habitat note
Prefers permanent, neutral to acid waters, on siliceous substrate, often associated with Ranunculus or Myriophyllum; occurs in rivers with shallow, slowly moving water, lakes and peaty marshes, and forms perennial populations in deep lakes (Muller et al., 2017). - (31 October 2017) - G.M. Guiry

Conservational note
"Nitella flexilis is a cosmopolitan species. It is frequent in all regions with soft-water habitats and occurs also in moderate hard-water all over Europe. In the Mediterranean region it seems to be less frequent than in central and northern Europe (Blazencic et al., 2006; Mouronval et al., 2015; Muller et al., 2017; Becker, 2019). Nevertheless, it is treated as an endangered species in several regional as well as national Red Lists because of being victim to habitat loss and habitat destruction. Especially the European-wide loss of small water bodies is causing a decline of suitable sites for N. flexilis (Becker and Wolff, 2016). Drainage, eutrophication resulting from agricultural activities and intensification of the use of water bodies for fishery and recreation are the most critical factors listed by Becker and Wolff (2016). Given the large distribution area and broad ecological niche, the species is probably at the moment not endangered on a European level. However, effective measures should be taken to stop this trend in decline of number of sites in order to prevent further fragmentation of populations." (Pall & al. 2024). Norway NT (Kålås et al. 2006). The species has been found in many recent localities both in Finland and Norway. In Sweden the number of recent sites (1975- 1999) are c. 130 according to Blindow (2000). In Faroe Islands and in Iceland the finds are old. In Greenland there is one find from 1977. Proposed red list status for the whole area is LC (least concern). (Langangen, pers. comm.). - (05 May 2020) - M.D. Guiry

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Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 20 January 2025. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 29 March 2025

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