Attheya Explained

Attheya is a genus of small single celled diatoms. Some of these species were earlier regarded to belong to Chaetoceros, or to Gonioceros, the taxonomic status of some of these species are still debated.^[1]

Description

They are distinguished morphologically from Chaetoceros by the structure of valve outgrowths or girdle bands. The girdle bands can only be seen with an electron microscope.^[2] Resting spores are seldom observed. Vegetative cells tend to attach to different substrates, including other diatoms,^[3] and are sometimes referred to as epiphytic. However, they are also observed to be planktonic.

Species

• Attheya arenicola C. Gardner & R. M. Crawford
• Attheya armata (T. West) R. M. Crawford
• Attheya decora T. West
• Attheya flexuosa var. enodulifer C. Gardner
• Attheya flexuosa C. Gardner
• Attheya gaussii (Heiden) R. M. Crawford
• Attheya lata Wooszynska
• Attheya longicornis R. M. Crawford & C. Gardner
• Attheya septentrionalis (Østrup) Crawford
• Attheya ussurensis Stonik, Orlova & Crawford
• Attheya zachariasii var. curvata P. Rivera
• Attheya zachariasii Brun

Further reading

• Rampen. Sebasstian W.. Schouten. Stefan. Panoto. F. Elda. Brink. Maaike. Andersen. Robert A.. Muyzer. Gerard. Abbas. Ben. Damste. Jaap S. Sinninghe. Phylogenetic Position Of Attheya Longicornis and Attheya Septenrionalis (Bacillariophyta). Journal of Phycology. April 2009. 45. 2. 444–453. 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2009.00657.x. 27033823. 205696434.
• Hansen. Espen. Huseby. Siv. Degerlund. Maria. Eriksen. Gunilla. Ingebrigsten. Richard. Eilertsen. Hans. Chemical Diversity as a Function of Temperature in Six Northern Diatom Species. Marine Drugs. November 2013. 11. 11. 4232–4245. 10.3390/md11114232. 24177671. 3853725. free.

Notes and References

1. Crawford, R.M., Hinz, F. and Koschinski, P. 2000. The combination of Chaetoceros gaussii (Bacillariophyta) with Attheya. Phycologia 39(3):238-244.
2. Crawford, R. M., Gardner, C., Medlin, L. K. 1994. The genus Attheya. I. A description of four new taxa, and the transfer of Gonioceros septentrionalis and G. armatus. Diatom research. 9:27-51.
3. Tomas, C. R., Hasle G. R., Syvertsen, E. E., Steidinger, K. A., Tangen, K., Throndsen, J., Heimdal, B. R., (1997). Identifying Marine Phytoplankton, Academic Press.