Diatoms
Bacillariophyceae
Diatoms are a major group of microalgae, and are among the most common types of phytoplankton. Diatoms are unicellular, although they can form colonies in the shape of filaments or ribbons (e.g. Fragilaria), fans (e.g. Meridion), zigzags (e.g. Tabellaria), or stars (e.g. Asterionella). The first diatom formally described in scientific literature, the colonial Bacillaria paradoxa, was found in 1783 by Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller. Diatoms are producers within the food chain. A unique feature of...
25 branches of this class, most-observed first
raphid diatoms
subclassBacillariophycidae
Fragilariophycidae
subclassFragilariophycidae
Thalassiosirophycidae
subclassThalassiosirophycidae
Melosirophycidae
subclassMelosirophycidae
Chaetocerotophycidae
subclassChaetocerotophycidae
Eunotiophycidae
subclassEunotiophycidae
Coscinodiscophycidae
subclassCoscinodiscophycidae
Aulacoseirales
orderAulacoseirales
Rhizosoleniales
orderRhizosoleniales
Urneidophycidae
subclassUrneidophycidae
Biddulphiophycidae
subclassBiddulphiophycidae
Archaegladiopsophycidae
subclassArchaegladiopsophycidae
Paraliophycidae
subclassParaliophycidae
Corethrophycidae
subclassCorethrophycidae
Triceratiales
orderTriceratiales
Hobaniella
genusHobaniella
Cymatosirophycidae
subclassCymatosirophycidae
Belonastrum
genusBelonastrum
Andrzeja
genusAndrzeja
Pseudopyxilla
genusPseudopyxilla
Amphoropsis
genusAmphoropsis
Ralfsiella
genusRalfsiella
Catillus
genusCatillus
Actinoneis
genusActinoneis
Ninastrelnikovia
genusNinastrelnikovia
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Bacillariophyceae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 123880.