| Bacillariophyceae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Stramenopiles |
| Phylum: | Ochrophyta |
| Clade: | Diatomeae |
| Subphylum: | Bacillariophytina |
| Class: | Bacillariophyceae Haeckel 1878, emend. Adl et al. 2019 [1] |
| Subclasses and families [1] [2] | |
Bacillariophyceae is a class of diatoms. [1] Previously, this class was equivalent to Diatomeae, the taxonomic name for all diatoms. [3] However, due to both the known and estimated diversity of diatoms, since 2019 they have been expanded to several classes. [4] In particular, Bacillariophyceae was given the following modified diagnosis: [1]
"Chain-forming, colonial or solitary; valve outline almost always bipolar; valve pattern organized bilaterally about an elongate axial rib (sternum), as in a feather; valve structure simple or chambered; rimoportulae generally only one or two per valve or none, sometimes accompanied (or replaced?) by special slits (the 'raphe') involved in motility; sexual reproduction involving gametangiogamy and almost always with gametes of equal size (although sometimes with behavioural differentiation and/or morphological differences); perizonium generally differentiated into two distinct series, transverse and longitudinal; chloroplasts usually only one, two or a few and large, less often many and small."