Home / Chrysophyceae / Unicells / Flagellated / Epipyxis
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Name derivation:
Classification:
Epipyxis Ehrenberg 1838; 21 of 48 species descriptions are currently accepted taxonomically (Guiry and Guiry 2014). Order Chromulinales; Family Dinobryaceae. Synonym: Dinobryon utriculus
Morphology:
Loricate unicells with two unequal flagella and one parietal chloroplast and a stigma. Mixotropic. Lorica is cylindrical to pyriform, narrowing to a point at the base where it is attached to filamentous algae. Produces silicaceous stomatocysts (resting cells). Cells similar to Dinobryon but housed in a tubular lorica made of overlapping thin plates. Some species have been known to form colonies and are identified by a pink appearance when treated with methylene blue.
Similar genera:
Dinobryon
Habitat:
Freshwater lakes from temperate to arctic regions, Europs and North America.
References:
Ehrenberg, C.G. (1838). Die Infusionsthierchen als vollkommene Organismen: ein Blick in das tiefere organische Leben der Natur. pp. i-xviii, [1-4], 1-547, [1]. Leipzig: Verlag von Leopold Voss. Guiry, M.D. and G.M. Guiry 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 07 May 2013.