About Algae

'Algae' is a term of convenience used for many oxygen-producing organisms that belong to
different evolutionary lineages but have similar ecological requirements. All contain chlorophyll
a, although the green colour of the pigment is often masked by accessory pigments.

These organisms are extraordinarily diverse and range from solitary cells to complex
multicellular forms reaching several metres in length. Those possessing internal membranes and
therefore organelles (such as chloroplasts and nuclei) are the eukaryotic algae and are usually
placed in four of five supergroups or kingdoms, including the Plantae. The evolutionary history
of the plastids of these eukaryotic algae is exceedingly complex and involves several
endosymbiotic events.

Another important group is the 'blue-green algae'. These are prokaryotic organisms because
they lack membrane-bound organelles. The group is more commonly called the cyanobacteria
because of their close relationship to bacteria, although they contain chlorophyll a, like
eukaryotic algae and vascular plants.

Some of the most important identifying features of algae are frequently lost on preservation.
Even microalgae mounted on glass slides may deteriorate in time and rarely possess any useful
diagnostic features. The diatoms are one of the most notable exceptions since their silica walls
normally provide all the features necessary for identification. Many permanently preserved
samples of freshwater algae therefore provide little useful information. For this reason, the type
of microscopic algae is frequently not a specimen but a line-drawing or photomicrograph
('iconotype') and any preserved voucher material has limited use for cross-checking
identifications.

Classification

The classification follows the 2011 edition of The Freshwater Algal Flora of the British Isles and
therefore recognises 15 phyla (see below). It differs in part from AlgaeBase, which to a large
extent follows the consensus classification presented in Ruggiero et al. (2015).

Phylum in AlgaeVision Common name AlgaeBase classification

Cyanophyta Blue-green algae Phylum Cyanobacteria
Rhodophyta Red algae Phylum Rhodophyta
Euglenophyta Euglenoids Phylum Euglenophyta/Euglenozoa
Cryptophyta Cryptomonads Phylum Cryptophyta/Cryptista
Dinophyta Dinoflagellates Phylum Miozoa, class Dinophyceae
Raphidophyta Raphidophytes Phylum Ochrophyta, class Raphidophyceae
Haptophyta Haptophytes Phylum Haptophyta
Chrysophyta Golden or golden- Phylum Ochrophyta, class Chrysophyceae
brown algae and class Synurophyceae
Xanthophyta Yellow-green algae Phylum Ochrophyta, class Xanthophyceae
Chlorophyta Green algae Phylum Chlorophyta, phylum Charophyta,
(includes stoneworts)
Eustigmatophyta Eustigmatophytes Phylum Ochrophyta, class
Eustigmatophyceae
Phaeophyta Brown algae Phylum Ochrophyta, class Phaeophyceae
Prasinophyta 'Primitive' green algae Phylum Chlorophyta
Bacillariophyta Diatoms Phylum Ochrophyta, class Bacillariophyceae
(not included in AlgaeVision)
Glaucophyta Glaucophytes Phylum Glaucophyta

Phylum Cyanophyta (blue-green algae/cyanobacteria)

 blue-green, grey-green, violet, brown, purplish or red dependent on relative proportions

of chlorophyll, phycocyanin and phycoerythrin
 sometimes a brown sheath pigment (scytonemin) present
 unicellular, colonial or filamentous (simple or branched)
 internal membranes absent and so no organelles

Phylum Rhodophyta (red algae)

 commonly red due to predominance of phycocyanin and phycoerythrin in chloroplasts

 unicellular, filamentous or pseudoparenchymatous (flagellated stages absent)
 food storage material - various, including floridean starch
 unique features associated with reproduction
Phylum Euglenophyta (euglenoids)

 green
 commonly unicellular
 often exhibit squirming movements, sometimes surrounded by an envelope or lorica
 chloroplasts variously shaped
 one or two flagella arising in a flask-shaped invagination
 eyespot red, usually evident
 walls with longitudinal or spiral striations
 food storage material - paramylon

Phylum Cryptophyta (cryptomonads)

 brown, blue, blue-green, red, red-brown, olive green, or yellow-brown due to accessory
pigments in one or two chloroplasts
 unicellular (rarely colonial), often bean-shaped, frequently dorsiventrally flattened
 two or more unequal subapical flagella arising in an anterior invagination
 food storage material - starch or starch-like

Phylum Dinophyta (dinoflagellates)

 usually brown due to presence of accessory pigments

 unicellular, rarely coccoid or filamentous
 walls firm or of regularly arranged polygonal plates
 biflagellate - one flagellum transverse and encircling the cell, other directed posteriorly
directed
 food storage materials - starch and oil
Phylum Raphidophyta

 yellow-green due to predominance of accessory pigment diatoxanthin in two or more

chloroplasts
 unicellular, dorsiventrally organised, with no outer wall (naked)
 two flagella arising in an apical, funnel-shaped invagination, one flagellum directed
forwards and other backwards
 food storage material - oil

Phylum Haptophyta

 cells are golden or yellow-brown due to presence of accessory pigments (principally

fucoxanthin)
 unicellular
 flagellates have amoeboid, coccoid, palmelloid or filamentous stages
 walls often possess calcified scales
 two flagella, and between them an appendage known as a haptonema
 food storage material - principally chrysolaminarin

Phylum Chrysophyta (golden-brown algae)

 cells are golden to yellow-brown due to presence of accessory pigments

 single coccoidal cells or palmelloid, filamentous or parenchymatous
 mostly uniflagellate or with two flagella, one long and the other short
 outer wall absent or cell(s) within an often urn-shaped envelope (lorica)
 silica scales sometimes present
 food storage material - oil or leucosin
Phylum Xanthophyta (yellow-green algae)

 cells are typically yellow-green due to present of the accessory pigment diatoxanthin in
two or more chloroplasts
 unicellular, filamentous, colonial or coenocytic
 motile forms have two subapical flagella
 walls frequently of overlapping parts
 food storage material - oil, fat or leucosin

Phylum Chlorophyta (green algae)

 cells with one to several green chloroplasts

 unicellular, colonial, filamentous, coenocytic or macrophytes with robust axes bearing
whorls of branches and branchlets
 motile or non-motile - if motile then normally have one, two or four usually apical flagella
 food storage material - principally starch surrounding in one to several pyrenoids
 sexual reproduction oogamous in some orders

Phylum Eustigmatophyta

 cells are yellow-green, with main accessory pigment usually violaxanthin in one or more
chloroplasts
 unicellular and coccoidal
 motile forms have one flagellum or two unequal flagella inserted near apex
 eyespot unique, independent of chloroplast
 pyrenoid unique
 food storage material unknown
Phylum Phaeophyta (brown algae)

 cells are brownish due to presence of carotenoids pigments (principally fucoxanthin) in

one to several chloroplasts
 freshwater species of microscopic branched filaments (often closely packed)
 motile stages pear-shaped with two laterally inserted flagella
 walls frequently contain alginic acid and fucinic acid
 food storage materials - laminarin and mannitol

Phylum Prasinophyta (primitive green algae)

 cells have green, rarely yellow-green, chloroplasts

 unicellular flagellates, rarely non-motile, with one to eight lateral or apical flagella,
usually arising at base of a depression
 walls and flagella mostly covered with organic scales
 food storage material - starch or mannitol

Phylum Glaucophyta

 cells are bright blue-green due to presence of phycocyanin and other pigments in
cyanelles (not equivalent to chloroplasts)
 unicellular or colonial
 food storage material – starch, produced outside the cyanelles