Chloropedia plana (Pascher, 1930)
Most likely ID: n.a.
Synonym: n.a.
Sampling location: Simmelried
Phylogenetic tree: Chloropedia plana
Diagnosis:
- cells 6–9 µm, irregular oval or irregular quadrangular
- two chloroplasts per cell of different size, troughed, parietal
- chloroplasts with a distinct yellowish-orange coloration
- cell wall distinct, sometimes mucilaginous
- cells with organge or reddish oil droplets
- colonies flat, irregularly shaped, only few cells
- colonies easily disintegrate into sub-colonies
- growing on Spaghnum or Utricularia
So far I have found the xanthophyte alga Chloropedia plana exclusively in the Simmelried and this very rarely. This fits in with the description by Ettl (1978) that this alga is not common.
Chloropedia plana can be recognized by the irregular shape of the colonies and the likewise irregularly shaped cells, which contain conspicuously coloured chloroplasts. In the DIC they appear orange and yellow-green, sometimes also olive-green, which is why it can be mistaken for a Chrysophyceae. The cells often contain colored oil droplets, have no pyrenoid and no starch grains, as is characteristic of xanthophyte algae.
Fig. 1 a-b: Chloropedia plana. L = 6.2–8.0 µm (of cells). Two focal planes of a slightly squashed colony of 6 cells found in October 2023. Some of them in the process of cell division. Each cell has two chloroplasts of different size (b). Obj. 100 X.
Fig. 2: Chloropedia plana. L = 7.2–8.4 µm (of cells). A colony of 7 cells found in May 2005. The colony is enveloped in a distinct cell wall. Obj. 100 X.