Ceratodictyon Zanardini, 1878
Holotype species: Ceratodictyon spongiosum Zanardini
Original publication and holotype designation: Zanardini, G. (1878). Phyceae papuanae novae vel minus cognitae a cl. O. Beccari in itinere ad Novam Guineam annis 1872-75 collectae. Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano 10: 34-40, no figs.
Request PDFDescription: Thallus living in symbiotic association with the sponge Sigmadocia symbiotica, forming irregular cushions or hummocks of recumbent, often imbricate axes composed of subcylindrical to compressed, subdichotomous to irregularly branched intertwining fronds anastomosing to form a dense reticulum, interstices of alga filled to a greater or lesser extent with sponge tissue. Construction multiaxial, cortex composed of a single layer of cuboidal or rectilinear cells subtended by progressively larger, increasingly elongate cells linked by numerous pit connections. Medulla composed of loosely aggregated elongated filaments in a weak gelatinous matrix, filaments bearing occasional single secretory cells. Algal and sponge partners reproduce independently. Algal reproductive structures on modified terminal branches projecting from the tips of the reticulate matrix or laterally at sites of apparent damage by wounding or abrasion. Gametangial plants dioecious; spermatangia in swollen exerted gelatinous axes, formed from spermatangial initials produced from cortical cells, each cutting off one or two spermatangia distally, sometimes in chains of two. Procarpic, carpogonial branches 3-celled, borne on a slightly enlarged supporting cell with a 2-celled auxiliary cell branch, initial division of the zygote oblique or nearly longitudinal, gonimoblast developing outwards from a fusion cell persisting in the mature cystocarp as a large columnar structure; cystocarps in aggregates on branched fertile axes, ostiolate, never coronate, strongly protruding outwards, most cells forming carposporangia synchronously in a single gonimolobe, tela arachnoidea absent. Tetrasporangia in terminal nemathecia completely encircling the terete unbranched fertile axes, initials formed terminally in a lateral position. Spores regularly or irregularly cruciately arranged.
Information contributed by: M.D. Guiry. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2018-09-27 by M.D. Guiry.
Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.
Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Schneider, C.W. & Wynne, M.J. (2007). A synoptic review of the classification of red algal genera a half a century after Kylin's "Die Gattungen der Rhodophyceen". Botanica Marina 50: 197-249.
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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=40126
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 27 September 2018. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 21 November 2024
