Tetradesmus | |
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Tetradesmus wisconsinensis | |
Scientific classification
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(unranked): | Viridiplantae |
Division: | Chlorophyta |
Class: | Chlorophyceae |
Order: | Sphaeropleales |
Family: | Scenedesmaceae |
Genus: |
Tetradesmus G.M.Smith |
Species | |
Tetradesmus is a genus of green algae in the family Scenedesmaceae. [1] Species of Tetradesmus are found in a variety of habitats, including fresh water and biological soil crusts in deserts. [2]
The genus Tetradesmus was described by Gilbert Morgan Smith, containing the single species Tetradesmus wisconsinensis. It was not universally accepted; Robert Hippolyte Chodat synonymized the genus into Scenedesmus, while George Stephen West accepted the genus as separate from Scenedesmus. [3]
In the 2000s, molecular data revealed found that Scenedesmus was polyphyletic. Scenedesmus was subsequently split up into several genera, corresponding to the former subgenera Scenedesmus, Desmodesmus, and Acutodesmus. [3] As Tetradesmus species are phylogenetically closely related to species once placed in Scenedesmus subgenus Acutodesmus, the genus Acutodesmus was raised to genus rank and Tetradesmus was placed as a synonym of Acutodesmus. [4] However, since the name Tetradesmus was published before the genus combination Acutodesmus was made, this meant that the name Tetradesmus had priority Therefore, species in Acutodesmus were renamed to Tetradesmus. [5]