''Aphanochaete'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
green algae
The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...
in the family
Aphanochaetaceae
Aphanochaetaceae is a family of green algae in the order Chaetophorales.See the NCBIbr>webpage on Aphanochaetaceae Data extracted from the It occurs mainly in freshwater habitats; it may inhabit running or stagnant water, sometimes within the ...
. The name ''Aphanochaete'' was given by
Alexander Braun
Alexander Carl Heinrich Braun (10 May 1805 – 29 March 1877) was a German botanist from Regensburg, Bavaria. His research centered on the morphology of plants and was a very influential teacher who worked as a professor of botany at the univers ...
in 1850.
The genus was actually described one year earlier by
Carl Nägeli
Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli (26 or 27 March 1817 – 10 May 1891) was a Swiss botanist. He studied cell division and pollination but became known as the man who discouraged Gregor Mendel from further work on genetics. He rejected natural selecti ...
as ''Herposteiron'', but the name ''Aphanochaete'' has been
conserved against ''Herposteiron''.
''Aphanochaete'' is a common
epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...
or aquatic plants or filamentous algae, such as ''
Cladophora
''Cladophora'' is a genus of reticulated filamentous green algae in the class Ulvophyceae. They may be referred to as reticulated algae, branching algae, or blanket weed. The genus has a worldwide distribution and is harvested for use as a food a ...
'' and ''
Oedogonium
''Oedogonium'' is a genus of filamentous, free-living green algae. It was first discovered in the fresh waters of Poland in 1860 by W. Hilse, and later given its name by German scientist Karl Engelbrecht Hirn, K. E. Hirn.
The morphology of ''Oed ...
''. It is found in freshwater (rarely brackish water), particularly
eutrophic
Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...
and hard water,
[ and has a ]cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
.
Description
''Aphanochaete'' consists of uniseriate filaments, attached to a substrate and with a prostrate arrangement (creeping along the substrate). Cells are globose to cylindrical, with one nucleus
Nucleus (: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
*Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucleu ...
and a parietal chloroplast
A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...
with one to several pyrenoid
Pyrenoids are sub-cellular phase-separated micro-compartments found in chloroplasts of many algae,Giordano, M., Beardall, J., & Raven, J. A. (2005). CO2 concentrating mechanisms in algae: mechanisms, environmental modulation, and evolution. ''An ...
s. One or several setae
In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.
Animal setae
Protostomes
Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...
may emerge from the upper surface of a cell; they are long, unicellular and often swollen at the base.[
''Aphanochaete'' reproduces asexually by ]