Desmid of the month
September 2009
Gonatozygon brebissonii
Unlike in Gonatozygon monotaenium (desmid of July 2006) cells of G. brebissonii rather gradually taper towards the apices, so are fusiform rather than cylindric in shape. Moreover, cells are often pretty abruptly attenuated just below the truncate ends giving rise to capitate apices. The wall of the vegetative cell is beset with delicate, rounded or acute granules, but zygospores (only rarely encountered) are perfectly smooth-walled. In the Netherlands, G. brebissonii is occasionally found in various types of mesotrophic, slightly acidic to pH-neutral water bodies.
Image © Henk Schulp
Cell of Gonatozygon brebissonii. Notice the finely granulate cell wall and the axile, plate-like chloroplasts (provided with a longitudinal, median ridge and some two pyrenoids)
Cell dimensions (L x B): 115 x 8 µm
