Euastrum bidentatum
Image © Henk Schulp

Cell of Euastrum bidentatum var. bidentatum. Note the lateral lobes in between the apical lobes and the basal lobes (the latter, in their turn, are slightly bilobed).

Cell dimensions (L x B):  52 x 35 µm

 

 

 


Desmid of the month
July 2007

Euastrum bidentatum

Eu.  bidentatum belongs to the group of Euastra that are characterized by a deep apical incision of the semicell.  It somewhat resembles Eu. elegans but differs in the occurrence of lateral semicell lobes in between the basal lobes and the apical lobes.  The lateral lobes are placed about half-way the height of the semicell. Whereas, in the Netherlands, the nominate variety of Euastrum bidentatum is rather common in various kinds of slightly acidic, mesotrophic water bodies the variety speciosum, marked by a more pronounced cell wall sculturing, is pretty rare.

Staurastrum diacanthum

Image © Marien van Westen

Cell of Euastrum bidentatum var. speciosum. As compared to var. bidentatum,  cell wall sculpturing is much more pronounced resulting in markedly papillate/dentate lobes.

Euastrum bidentatum, empty semicell

An empty semicell of Euastrum bidentatum var. speciosum showing a central ornamentation in the form of a circle of some six verrucae with one larger  verruca in the middle.

Euastrum bidentatum var. speciosum, SEM imageSEM image © Jan Šťastný

SEM picture of Euastrum bidentatum var. speciosum