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Algal factsheet: Cymbella (Cymbellaceae)
Diagnostic features
Shaped like orange segments in valve view. The raphe is curved from the central area to the poles approximately in parallel with the long edge of the valve, but deflects towards the long edge at the cell poles (unlike in Encyonema, where it deflects the other way). Sometimes attached to surfaces with gelatinous stalks. Chloroplasts are golden-brown.
Typical habitats
Stony streams and rivers everywhere
Notes
Can form thick yellow-brown mats that can prompt pollution complaints
Classification
| Kingdom |
Chromista |
| Phylum |
Ochrophyta |
| Class |
Bacillariophyceae |
| Order |
Cymbellales |
| Family |
Cymbellaceae |
| Common name |
Diatoms |
