Triceratium Ehrenberg, 1839
Lectotype species: Triceratium favus Ehrenberg
Original publication: Ehrenberg [C.G.] (1839). Über jetzt wirklich noch zahlreich lebende Thier-Arten der Kreideformation der Erde. Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der Königl. Preuß. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1839: 152-159.
Request PDFType designated in: Van Heurck, H. (1896). A treatise on the Diatomaceae. Translated by W.E. Baxter. pp. 1-558, pls 1-35. London: William Wesley & Son.
Description: Cells free-living or attached; usually triangular in valve view and narrowly oblong in girdle view, with elevations at the corners and a slight central convexity. Marine, coastal. Valves triangular or sometimes square, shallow, often ornamented with simple or branched spines. Valve face flat or slightly convex; mantles very shallow. Areolae loculate, opening externally via large foramina; the bases of the locules are formed by a continuous sheet of silica with rows of pores radiating from a central annulus. Pores often eroded but in vivo with domed coverings; internally the pores are clustered but they still clearly radiate from the centre of the valve (see also Miller & Collier, 1978). Margin of valve face raised, with a single row of stalked or spathulate collared tubes, which are the exits of rimoportulae. Corner elevations present, ending in ocelli. In some species there is a conspicuous rimoportula opening adjacent to each ocellus. Valve mantle often with a ridge below which there is a fine row of pores just above the recurved mantle edge. Copulae simply porous; the valvocopula is finely fimbriate (Miller & Collier, 1978. We are not entirely clear about the arrangement of the copulae, as their interpretation does not seem possible).
The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2020-01-31 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 neuter.
Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Cox, E.J. (2015). Coscinodiscophyceae, Mediophyceae, Fragilariophyceae, Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms). In: Syllabus of plant families. Adolf Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. 13th Ed. Photoautotrophic eukaryotic algae Glaucocystophyta, Cryptophyta, Dinophyta/Dinozoa, Heterokontophyta/Ochrophyta, Chlorarachniophyta/Cercozoa, Euglenophyta/Euglenozoa, Chlorophyta, Streptophyta p.p. (Frey, W. Eds), pp. 64-103. Stuttgart: Borntraeger Science Publishers.
Comments: There are many more triangular diatoms in need of investigation. Over 400 spp. of Triceratium are recognised by VanLandingham (1978)! How many actually conform to the features above is not known but since the above observations are based on material which agrees with the type we take them to be representative of Triceratium sensu stricto. There are other triangular taxa which clearly do not belong to Triceratium as we have defined it and these we recognise as members of Amphitetras, Biddulphia, Cerataulus, Lampriscus, Sheshukovia and Trigonium. In the detailed review by Glezer (1975), Triceratium as recognised by us is maintained; Glezer considers that another 30 spp. also belong in Triceratium. The genus ranges back to the Eocene.
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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)
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Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.
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Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 31 January 2020. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 22 November 2024
