CLASSIFICATION OF ALGAE

Classification may be defined as the

scientific categorization of the
organism in a hierarchial series of
groups.

By : Dr Rajiv Dwivedi
• Algae possess diverse characters in their pigments,
nature of reserve food, nature of cilia etc. According to
these morphological and physiological differences they
are classified by many people.
• Fritsch (1935) classified the whole of the algae into
eleven classes on the basis of type of pigments, nature of
reserve food material, mode of reproduction etc.
• They are Chlorophyceae, Xanthophyceae,
Chrysophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Cryptophyceae,
Dinophyceae, Chloromonodineae, Euglinineae,
Phaeophyceae, Rhodophyceae and Myxophyceae
(Cyanophyceae).
• The classification is published in his book titled “The
Structure and Reproduction of Algae”.
 1. Class: Chlorophyceae (Green Algae)
• Occurrence: Most forms are fresh
water and a few are marine.
• Pigments: Chief pigments are
chlorophyll a an b and carotenoids
(yellow pigments)
• Reserve food: Starch
• Structure: Unicellular motile to
heterotrichous filaments. Cell wall
consists of Cellulose. Pyrenoids
are commonly surrounded by
starch sheath. Motile cells have
equal flagella(24).
• Reproduction: Sexual
reproduction ranges from
isogamous to advanced oogamous
type.
• Example: Chlamydomonas,
Volvox, Chlorella, Scenedesmus
,Pediastrum
 2. Class: Xanthophyceae (Yellow green algae)
• Occurrence: Most forms are fresh
water but a few are marine.
• Pigments: Yellow xanthophyll is
found abundantly.
• Reserve food: oil
• Structure: Unicellular motile to
simple filamentous. Cell wall rich
in pectic compounds and
composed of two equal pieces
overlapping at their edges. Motile
cells have two very unequal
flagella. Pyrenoids absent.
• Reproduction: Sexual
reproduction is rare and always
isogamous.
• Example: Vaucheria
 3. Class: Chrysophyceae
• Occurrence: Most forms occur in cold
fresh water but a few are marine.
• Pigments: Chromatophores are brown or
orange colored. Phycochrysin serves as
chief accessory pigments.
• Reserve food: Fat and leucosin.
• Structure: Plants are unicellular motile to
branched filamentous. Flagella are
unequal attached at front end. Cells
commonly contain one or two parietal
chrmoatophores.
• Reproduction: Sexual reproduction
seldom occurs but is of isogamous type.
• Example: Chrysodendron,
Phaeothamnion
 4. Class: Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms)
• Occurrence: In all kind of fresh water, sea, soil
and terrestrial habitats.
• Pigments: Chromatophores are yellow or
golden brown. Nature of accessory pigments is
not very definite.
• Reserve food: Fat and volutin.
• Structure: All the members are unicellular or
colonial. Cell wall is partly composed of silica
and partly of pectic substances. It consists of
two halves and each has two or more pieces.
Cell wall is richly ornamental
• Reproduction: Forms are diploid.Sexual
reproduction is special type, occurs by fusion of
protoplasts of the ordinary individuals.
• Example: Pinnularia
 5. Class: Cryptophyceae
• Occurrence: Both in marine and
fresh water
• Pigments: Chromatophores show
diverse pigmentation. It may be
some shades of brown.
Chromatophores are usually
parietal.
• Reserve food: Solid carbohydrates
or in some cases starch.
• Structure: Represented by motile
cells and most advanced forms are
coccoid, flagella are slightly
unequal.
• Reproduction: Isogamous in the
reported cases.
• Example: Chroomona
 6. Class: Dinophyceae
• Occurrence: Plants occur widely
as sea water planktons. A few
may be fresh water forms.
• Pigments: Chromaophores are
dark yellow, brown , etc., and
contain a number of special
pigments.
• Reserve food: Starch and oil
• Structure: plants are unicellular
motile to branched filamentous.
• Reproduction: Sexual
reproduction is of isogamous
type. it is rare and not very
definite.
• Example: Dinoflagellate ,
Ceratium
 7. Class: Chloromonadineae
• Occurrence: All plants are fresh
water forms.
• Pigments: Chromatophores are
bright green in colour and
contain an excess of
xanthophyll.
• Reserve food: Oil
• Structure: The plants are motile,
flagellate with two almost equal
flagella.
• Reproduction: Sexual
reproduction absent, cells
divide by longitudinal division.
• Example: Trentonia
 8. Class: Euglenineae
• Occurrence: Only fresh water forms
are known
• Pigments: Chromatophores are pure
green. Each cell has several
chromatophores.
• Reserve food: Polysaccharide and
Paramylon
• Structure: Motile flagellates, flagella
may be one or two arising from the
base of canal like invagination at the
front end. Complex vacuolar system
and a large and prominent nucleus.
• Reproduction: Sexual reproduction is
not substantially known. It is
isogamous type.
• Example: Eugle
 9. Class: Phaeophyceae (Brown algae)
• Occurrence: Mostly marine
• Pigments: chl a, c, carotenes,
xanthophylls, not chl b
• Reserve food: Mannitol as well as
laminarin and fats
• Structure: The plants may be
simple filamentous to bulky
parenchymatous forms. Several
plants attain giant size, external
and internal differentiation.
• Reproduction: Sexual reproduction
ranges isogamous to oogamous.
Motile gametes have two laterally
attached flagella. Varied types of
alternation of generation.
• Example: Ectocarpus, Sargassum
 10. Class: Rhodophyceae (Red algae)
• Occurrence: Few forms are fresh water
and others are marine.
• Pigments: Chromatophores are res blue
containing pigments like red
phycoerythrin and blue phycocyanin, Chl-
a,d, carotenes.
• Reserve food: Floridean starch
• Structure: Simple filamentous to attaining
considerable complexity of structure.
Motile structures are not known.
• Reproduction: Sexual reproduction is
advanced oogamous type. The male
organ produces non motile gametes and
the female organ has a long receptive
neck. After sexual reproduction special
spores (carpospores) are produced
• Example: Batrachospermum,
Polysiphonia
 11. Class: Myxophyceae
(Cyanophyceae or Blue green algae)
• Occurrence: Found in sea and fresh
water,
• Pigments: Chlorophyll, carotenes,
xanthophylls, and phycocyain and
phycoerythrin. The ratio of last two
pigments exhibits colour variation,
commonly blue green.
• Reserve food: Sugars and Glycogen
• Structure: Simple type of cell to
filamentous, some of the filamentous
forms show false or true branching,
very rudimentary nucleus, no proper
chromatophores, the photosynthetic
pigments being diffused throughout
the peripheral position. No motile
stages.
• Reproduction: There is no sexual
reproduction.
• Example: Oscillatoria, Nostoc