Original descriptions of taxa. For coccolithophores, and many calcispheres, these are pages from the Farinacci & Howe Catalog of Calcareous Nannofossils. In other cases (e.g. non-calcifying haptophytes) the data is directly compiled on this site. The "Catalogue of Calcareous Nannofossils" was originally compiled by Prof A. Farinacci 1969-1989, since 2000 it has been updated and extended by Richard Howe - see The Farinacci and Howe Catalog - an Introduction.
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Citation: Chrysochromulina polylepis Manton & Parke, 1962Taxonomic rank: speciesType sample (& lithostrat): Type culture (Plymouth no. 136) deposited with the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa, CambridgeRepository Country: UKFarinacci catalog page (& compiler): n/a Current citation: Prymnesium polylepis (Manton and Parke 1962) Edvardsen, Eikrem & Probert, in Edvardsen et al., 2011
Original Description Motile cells showing some metaboly; generally ovoid but sometimes sub-spheroidal, with flagellar pole obliquely truncate and depressed centrally to produce a groove across one axis; larger individuals conspicuously flattened and with a protruding lip (or hump) on one side of the flagellar pole; 6-12 µm, in length by 5-9 µm in breadth. The appendages arising close together centrally from the depression; the flagella subequal, or of equal length, very occasionally unequal, homodynamic, 2-3 times body length, very fine, smooth, apex gradually attenuated to a small knob (E.M. observation); the haptonema capable of attaching only by its distal swollen tip, thinner than the flagella, from 1 - 1½ times body length when fully extended, with an internal structure of three concentric membranes surrounding a ring of seven fibres.
Four scale types present:
large plates with upturned rims (average dimensions 1.4 x 1.2 µm),
small plates with rims flexed towards outer surface and with two bulbosities near the centre on the outer side (average dimensions 0.8 x 0.6 µm), about twice as numerous as the large plates,
narrow elliptical plates with rim flattened against outer face (average dimensions 1.2 x 0.6 µm), less numerous than the large plates and probably present in a group near the flagellar pole,
a few (1-3) large elliptical plates (average dimensions 2.5 x 0.9 µm) with rims and a forked excrescence at one end, situated at the flagellar pole.
Chromatophores usually 1 or 2, not uncommonly 3 or 4, deep golden-brown, faintly striated on outer face, usually covering most of the periphery of larger cells but clear space sometimes showing in smaller cells, usually saucer-shaped to oblong, each with an internal pyrenoid. Lipid and chrysose (leucosin) produced. Ejectile muciferous bodies generally distributed in peripheral cytoplasm. Nutrition phototrophic and/or phagotrophic. Non-toxic to fish.
In motile phase asexual reproduction by fission into two daughter-cells, usually of equal size; other stages unknown Size: cells 6-12 µm long, 5-9 µm wide; flagella 2-3 times body length;
References:
Manton, I. & Parke, M. (1962). Preliminary observations on scales and their mode of origin in Chrysochromulina polylepis sp. nov. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 42: 565-578. gs
Chrysochromulina polylepis: Catalog entry compiled by Jeremy Young. Viewed: 17-2-2025