Chlorodesmis Harvey & Bailey, 1841
Holotype species: Chlorodesmis comosa Harvey & Bailey
Currently accepted name for the type species: Chlorodesmis fastigiata (C.Agardh) S.C.Ducker
Original publication and holotype designation: Harvey, W.H. & Bailey, J.W. (1851). [Dr. Gould presented, in behalf of Professors W.H. Harvey of Trinity College, Dublin, and J.W. Bailey of West Point, descriptions of seventeen new species of Algae collected by the United States Exploring Expedition...]. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 3: 370-373.
Request PDFDescription: Thalli occur in caespitose clumps or brush-like aggregates on elongated stipes, the clumps to 10-20 cm. wide and 17 cm. tall. Fronds of numerous, non-septate, dichotomous siphons 75-515 µm in diameter, containing numerous nuclei, and both chloroplasts and amyloplasts (i.e. heteroplastic); pyrenoids absent, and crystalline inclusions of unknown composition and function present or absent. Anchorage is by a felted mass of colorless siphons and entangled adventitious rhizoids, which in stipitate species coalesce into a stalk composed mostly of colorless rhizoids thinner in diameter than the unconsolidated photosynthetic siphons. Distal siphons constricted at one or both sites above dichotomies. Reproductive structures are known for two species, but are very different, suggesting that Chlorodesmis, at present, may be an aggregate of more than one genus. In C. baculifera zooids are released from zooidangia formed in grape-like clusters on short stalks borne along vegetative siphons. In C. major the distal few mm. of every siphon differentiate into a zooidangium, while the remainder of the thallus becomes bleached and presumably dies back after zooid release. Fertility in C. major appears to be geared to the lunar cycle.
Information contributed by: S. D. Ducker and G. T. Kraft. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2022-02-28 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: Cremen, C.M., Leliaert, F., West, J.[A.], Lam, D.W., Shimada, S. Lopez-Bautista, J.M. & Verbruggen, H. (2019). Reassessment of the classification of Bryopsidales (Chlorophyta) based on chloroplast phylogenomic analyses. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 397-405, 2 figs.
Comments: Geographic distribution extends from the western Indian Ocean to the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. Most species are widespread, growing in tropical to subtropical waters, with extensions into temperate latitudes as well. Chlorodesmis baculifera may be restricted to southeastern Australia. Vertical range is from upper sublittoral to at least about -35m.
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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=36017
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 28 February 2022. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 22 November 2024
