Chaetoceros
Ehrenberg 1844 Category: Centric
TYPE SPECIES: Chaetoceros tetrachaeta Ehrenberg
CLASS: Coscinodiscophyceae
ORDER: Chaetocerotales
FAMILY: Chaetoceraeae
- Frustules with long, thin spines
- Spines overlap to form colonies of several cells
Chaetoceros is a centric diatom with very lightly silicified frustules. Each frustule possesses four long, thin spines, or setae. The setae link the frustules together to form colonies of several cells. Frustules are usually seen in girdle view.
Chaetoceros is primarily a marine genus, with only a few representatives in inland waters of the United States. Inland cells reach their greatest abundances in saline or brine contaminated rivers and lakes. Chaetoceros produces heavily silicified resting cells that are often preserved in sediments. Because of high growth rates and contain high concentrations of lipids, Chaetoceros has been used as a potential alga to harvest lipids for biofuels.
Cite This Page:
Spaulding, S., and Edlund, M. (2009). Chaetoceros. In Diatoms of the United States. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/genus/Chaetoceros
Contributor: Sarah Spaulding | Mark Edlund - January 2009
Reviewer: Sam Rushforth
Citations
Huber-Pestalozzi, G. (1942). Das Phytoplankton des Susswasers. Systematik und Biologie. In Die Binnengewasser, A. Thienemann (ed.) 16: 367-549. E Schweizerbart'sche Verlag. Stuttgart, Germany.
Johansen, J.R. and Rushforth, S.R. (1985). A contribution to the taxonomy of Chaetocerus muelleri Lemmerman (Bacillariophycae) and related taxa. Phycologia 24: 437-447.
Laird, K.R., Fritz, S.C., Grimm, E.C. and Mueller, P.G. (1996). Century-scale paleoclimatic reconstruction from Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in the northern Great Plains. Limnol. Oceanogr. 41: 890-902.
Rushforth, S.R. and Johansen, J.R. (1986). The inland Chaetoceros (Bacillariophyceae) species of North America. Journal of Phycology 22: 441-448.
Suto, I. (2006). The explosive diversification of the diatom genus Chaetoceros across the Eocene/Oligocene and Oligocene/Miocene boundaries in the Norwegian Sea. Marine Micropaleontology 58: 259-269 . 10.1016/j.marmicro.2005.11.004