O. Muller 1895 Category: Epithemioid
TYPE SPECIES: Rhopalodia gibba (Ehrenberg) O. Müller
Smallest to largest - 3 taxa sorted by maximum length
CLASS: Bacillariophyceae
ORDER: Rhopalodiaceae
FAMILY: Rhopalodiaceae
Frustules of Rhopalodia have a strong dorsiventral symmetry. The raphe is positioned on the dorsal side of each valve in a shallow keel. The valve faces are nearly planar, that is, each frustule is shaped like 1/2 of an orange. The central endings of the raphe are expanded. The raphe is supported internally by costae. In contrast to Epithemia, Rhopalodia lacks complex cingula (girdle bands).
Cells of Rhopalodia grow in nitrogen poor habitats. Like Epithemia, cells typically include endosymbiotic cyanobacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen.
Cite This Page:
Spaulding, S., and Metzeltin, D. (2011). Rhopalodia. In Diatoms of the United States. Retrieved April 23, 2018, from http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/genus/rhopalodia
Contributor: Sarah Spaulding | Ditmar Metzeltin - March 2011
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Kneip, C., Voss, C., Lockhart, P.J. and Maier, U.G. (2008). The cyanobacterial endosymbiont of the unicellular algae Rhopalodia gibba shows reductive genome evolution. Evolutionary Biology 8:30. 10.1186/1471-2148-8-30
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Prechtl, J., Kneip, C. Lockhart, P., Wenderoth, K. and Maier, U.G. . (2004). Intracellular spheroid bodies of Rhopalodia gibba have nitrogen-fixing apparatus of cyanobacterial origin. Molecular Biology and Evolution 21(8): 1477-1481. 10.1093/molbev/msh086
You, Q., Liu, Y., Wang, Y. and Wang, Q. (2009). Taxonomy and distribution of diatoms in the genera Epithemia and Rhopalodia from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Nova Hedwigia 89:397-430. 10.1127/0029-5035/2009/0089-0397