Chrysophytes

Chrys­o­phytes

• Mem­bers:
  • Diatoms
  • Gold­en algae (desmids)
• Habi­tat:
  • Fresh­wa­ter and marine envi­ron­ments
• Char­ac­ter­is­tics:
  • Micro­scop­ic
  • Plank­ton­ic (float pas­sive­ly in water cur­rents)
  • Most­ly pho­to­syn­thet­ic
• Diatoms:
  • Unique cell walls:
    • Two thin over­lap­ping shells (like a soap­box)
    • Embed­ded with sil­i­ca (inde­struc­tible)
  • Form diatoma­ceous earth:
    • Accu­mu­la­tion of cell wall deposits over bil­lions of years
    • Grit­ty tex­ture used in pol­ish­ing, fil­tra­tion of oils and syrups
  • Chief pro­duc­ers in the oceans (major con­trib­u­tors to pri­ma­ry pro­duc­tion)