portrait

Description:

Spirotaenia (spire-o-teen-ee-a) condensata, mostly spindle-shaped or cigar-shaped with rounded ends. The two spiral ribbon-like chloroplasts contains many pyrenoids. The ends of the chloroplasts can be coloured brownish or orange reddish. The nucleus is located centrally. Several (1 - 4) cells are enclosed in a mucous sheath. Cells divide in the manner of the desmids, although division is oblique. Sexual reproduction by conjugation ends up with the formation of zygospores. The zygote is round and can form a very ornate wall. Common in bogs and moorlands. The cigar-shaped cells of this species can be seen to have tight spiral ribbon-like. Several pyrenoids can be seen within the chloroplasts. 61 microns.