Characiopodium
| Characiopodium | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Clade: | Viridiplantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Chlorophyceae |
| Order: | Sphaeropleales |
| Family: | Sphaeropleaceae |
| Genus: | Characiopodium G.L.Floyd & Shin Watanabe |
| Type species | |
| Characiopodium typicum (K.W.Lee & Bold) G.L.Floyd & Shin Watanabe | |
| Species | |
| |
Characiopodium is a genus of green algae in the family Sphaeropleaceae. It occurs in soils.
Characiopodium consists of cells that are attached to a substrate; the cell body is ellipsoidal, spindle-shaped, or cylindrical, with an adhesive disc. The chloroplast is typically cup- or band-shaped, sometimes stellate and branched; chloroplasts bear one or rarely several pyrenoids. Characiopodium reproduces asexually via zoospores with two flagella, more rarely with aplanospores.
Morphologically, Characiopodium is very similar to Characium; however, Characiopodium is multinucleate while Characium is uninucleate.