| Podohedriella | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Chlorophyceae |
| Order: | Sphaeropleales |
| Family: | Selenastraceae |
| Genus: | Podohedriella Hindák |
| Type species | |
| Podohedriella falcata (Duringer) Hindák [1] | |
| Species | |
Podohedriella is a genus of green algae in the family Selenastraceae. [2] It is found in freshwater habitats [3] or on damp wood. [1]
Podohedriella consists of single cells or colonies of two, four, or eight cells, which are attached by one end to a substrate. Cells are 17 to 50 μm long and 1.5 to 4 μm wide, and fusiform to crescent-shaped or sigmoidal in outline. [1] Cells are heteropolar; the apical and basal ends are both pointed, but the apical ends are more sharply so. [3] Cells contain a single nucleus and a single parietal chloroplast with pyrenoids; however, the pyrenoids lack a starch sheath. [3]
As with other algae in the family Selenastraceae, reproduction occurs exclusively via autospores. [3]
Podohedriella was circumscribed by the phycologist František Hindák in 1988. [1] He separated Podohedriella from the genus Podohedra by the absence of a pyrenoid. [1] Its autospores are also arranged in parallel (versus serially in Podohedra). The former characteristic is ambiguous; algae in the family Selenastraceae were often considered to lack pyrenoids. Pyrenoids are typically present, but may be impossible to view with light microscopy without staining. [3]
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