| Basichlamys | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Basichlamys sacculifera | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Chlorophyceae |
| Order: | Chlamydomonadales |
| Family: | Tetrabaenaceae |
| Genus: | Basichlamys Skuja, 1956 |
| Species: | B. sacculifera |
| Binomial name | |
| Basichlamys sacculifera (Scherffel) Skuja | |
| Synonyms | |
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Basichlamys is a monotypic genus of colonial green algae in the family Tetrabaenaceae. [1] The sole species is Basichlamys sacculifera. It is rare, but cosmopolitan in freshwaters. [2]
Basichlamys sacculifera consists of four-celled colonies of cells in a square, which are attached by their bases to a parental cellular sheath or sac. The cells are ovoid and asymmetrical, and each have two flagella, two contractile vacuoles, and a cup-shaped chloroplast containing a pyrenoid and a stigma. [3] The ultrastructure of the cell wall is similar to those of Tetrabaena and Gonium . [4] Its overall morphology is most similar to Tetrabaena, but the cells are not connected to each other directly but are instead connected by a common cellular sheath. [3]
Asexual reproduction occurs by autocolony formation, [2] or occasionally akinetes or hypnospores (dormant cells). [3] Sexual reproduction is isogamous and results in walled aplanozygotes. [2] The zygote walls are reticulate, a feature that it shares with Tetrabaena. [4]
