Chaetoceros

Chaetoceros
Temporal range: 0.012–0.0 Ma
↓
Chaetoceros furcellatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Bacillariophyceae
Order: incertae sedis
Family: Chaetocerotaceae
Genus: Chaetoceros
Ehrenberg (1844)
Species

See text

Phytoplankton – such as this colony of Chaetoceros socialis – naturally give off fluorescent light as they dissipate excess solar energy that they cannot consume through photosynthesis.
Bright-field microscopy image of epiphytic cyanobacterial symbiont Calothrix rhizosoleniae SC01 9 (indicated by arrows) attached to a host diatom Chaetoceros sp. (c). Scale bar, 50 μm.

Chaetoceros is a genus of diatoms in the family Chaetocerotaceae, first described by the German naturalist C. G. Ehrenberg in 1844.[1] Species of this genus are mostly found in marine habitats, but a few species exist in freshwater.[2] It is arguably the common and most diverse genus of marine planktonic diatoms,[3] with over 200 accepted species.[1] It is the type genus of its family.[1]

Species in the genus Chaetoceros are found in marine waters all over the world, where they can often form algal blooms.[4] Some strains grow quickly and produce high amounts of lipids, sparking interest in potential usage for biofuels.[2]

  1. ^ a b c Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. "". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Spaulding was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ De Luca, Daniele; Piredda, Roberta; Sarno, Diana; Kooistra, Wiebe H.C.F. (2021). "Resolving cryptic species complexes in marine protists: Phylogenetic haplotype networks meet global DNA metabarcoding datasets". The ISME Journal. 15 (7): 1931–1942. doi:10.1038/s41396-021-00895-0. PMC 8245484. PMID 33589768.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Booth et al 2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).