Bathycoccus Eikrem & Throndsen, 1990
Holotype species: Bathycoccus prasinos Eikrem & Throndsen
Original publication and holotype designation: Eikrem, W. & Throndsen, J. (1990). The ultrastructure of Bathycoccus gen. nov. and B. prasinos sp. nov., a non-motile picoplanktonic alga (Chlorophyta, Prasinophyceae) from the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Phycologia 29: 344-350.
Request PDFDescription: Cells solitary, devoid of cell wall, without flagella. Plasmalemma covered with rounded organic scales. Chloroplast single, semilunar, central part lacking thylakoids, usually containing a starch grain, but devoid of a well-defined pyrenoid stroma area.
Information contributed by: Original description and Ø. Moestrup. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2024-01-03 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 masculine.
Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Throndsen, J. (1996). The planktonic marine flagellates. In: Identifying marine phytoplankton. (Tomas, C.R. Eds), pp. 591-730. San Diego: Academic Press.
Comments: This very simple cell represents the only known scale-covered prasinophyte which lack flagella entirely. The type material was isolated from 100 m depth in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. It was subsequently recorded from coastal waters in Norway and from the north-eastern Atlantic. Marine snow collected off the coast of California contained a scaly alga resembling Bathycoccus, indicating that it is widely distributed in marine plankton, though generally overlooked. It is closely related to the flagellated genera Mantoniella and Mamiella.
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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Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera,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=44982
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 03 January 2024. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 22 November 2024
