''Navicula'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of boat-shaped
diatom alga
Algae ( , ; : alga ) are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. The name is an informal term for a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from u ...
e, comprising over 1,200 species. ''Navicula'' is Latin for "small ship", and also a term in English for a boat-shaped
incense
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also ...
-holder.
Diatoms — eukaryotic, primarily aquatic, single-celled photosynthetic organisms — play an important role in global ecology, producing about a quarter of all the oxygen within Earth's biosphere, often serving as foundational organisms, or
keystone species
A keystone species is a species which has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, a concept introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaini ...
in the food chain of many environments where they provide a staple for the diets of many aquatic species.
Mobility
''Navicula'' diatoms have been observed to possess a motile ability to glide over one another and on hard surfaces such as microscope slides. Around the outside of the navicula's shell is a girdle of
mucilage
Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion. The direction of their movement is always opposite to that of the secretion of ...
strands that can flow and thus act as a
tank track.
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
scale= 50 µm
File:Lyrella hennedy 1600x contrast invertion.jpg, ''Lyrella hennedy''
File:Navicula oblonga - 160x - Seitensicht (13465052133).jpg, ''Navicula oblonga''
File:Navicula oblonga - 160x - Schrägsicht (13464954365).jpg, ''Navicula oblonga''
References
External links
''Navicula'' Image (Missouri State University)*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060818063256/http://vis-pc.plantbio.ohiou.edu/algaeimage/pages/Navicula.html Bacillariophyceae - ''Navicula'' Ohio University*
*
Diatom genera
{{Diatom-stub