portrait

Description:

Botrydium (bot-rid-ee-um) xanthophyte - a group of walled stramenopiles although unlike most stramenopiles with plastids, the xanthophytes have a much greener colour. Botrydium is usually assigned to the Vaucheriales, which are characterised by being able to adopt a coenocytic (multinucleate) body form. Normally grows on mud, often with aerial and subsurface elements. This image shows a number of the forms adopted by the vegetative cells. Phase contrast.