Sirogonium

Sirogonium
Sirogonium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Class: Zygnematophyceae
Order: Zygnematales
Family: Zygnemataceae
Genus: Sirogonium
Kützing 1843
Type species
Sirogonium sticticum (Smith) Kützing
Species

21; see text.

Sirogonium is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales. It is found in freshwater areas on all continents but Antarctica. Spirogyra measures approximately 32–115 μm in width. Each cell contains 2–10 chloroplasts in a ribbon, in contrast to the closely related genus Spirogyra, which has chloroplasts in a coil. Molecular phylogenetic studies have placed Sirogonium inside a clade consisting of Spirogyra species; in other words, Spirogyra is paraphyletic with respect to Sirogonium.