Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua

Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua

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