Actinella
Lewis 1864 Category: Eunotioid
TYPE SPECIES: Actinella punctata Lewis
CLASS: Bacillariophyceae
ORDER: Eunotiales
FAMILY: Eunotiaceae
- Valves distinctly asymmetric to the apical and transapical axes
- Raphe highly reduced, restricted to the ventral margin
- Helictoglossae visible
- Small spines present along the valve margin
Cells of Actinella grow singly, or in small colonies that are joined by mucilage secreted at the narrow ends of the cells.
The species Actinella punctata is the only species known from North America. Nearly all records of A. punctata are from acid waters in eastern and southeastern North America. Actinella is differentiated from Eunotia by asymmetry about the transapical axis. A large number of species are know from South America and Australasia.
Cite This Page:
Spaulding, S., and Edlund, M. (2009). Actinella. In Diatoms of the United States. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/genus/Actinella
Contributor: Sarah Spaulding | Mark Edlund - January 2009
Reviewer: Sam Rushforth
Citations
Kociolek, J.P., Lyon, D. and Spaulding, S.A. (2002). Revision of the South American species of Actinella. Lange-Bertalot-Festschrift Studies on Diatoms, Dedicated to Dr. Dr. h.c. Horst Lange-Bertalot on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
Kociolek, J.P., Rhode, K. and Williams, D.M. (1997). Taxonomy, ultrastructure and biogeography of the Actinella punctata species complex (Bacillariophyta: Eunotiaceae). Nova Hedwigia, Microalgae: Aspects of Diversity and Systematics 65: 177-194.
Patrick, R.M. and Reimer, C.W. (1966). The Diatoms of the United States exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii, V. 1. Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13.
Sabbe, K., Vanhoutte, K. and Vyerman, W. (2000). Actinella comperei (Eunotiophycidae, Bacillariophyta): a new endemic freshwater diatom from Tasmania (Australia). Syst. Geogr. Pl. 70: 237-243.
Siver, P.A., Wolfe, A.P. and Edlund, M.B. (2010). Taxonomic descriptions and evolutionary implications of Middle Eocene pennate diatoms representing the extant genera Oxyneis, Actinella and Nupela (Bacillariophyceae). Plant Ecology and Evolution 143: 340-351. 10.5091/plecevo.2010.419