Mesostigamtophyceae –
Archaeplastida

Observations on Tortitaenia obscura

Protisten / Protisten.de – created by Wolfgang Bettighofer / Algae green-colored (2: Streptophyta) – Mesostigmatophyceae / Tortitaenia obscura

Position in the EOL taxonomic tree. Please click on the tree view below to access EOL (Encyclopedia of Life).

Tortitaenia obscura (Ralfs) Brook 1998

Most likely ID: n.a.

Basionym: Spirotaenia obscura Ralfs 1848

Add’l Synonyms: Entospira obscura (Ralfs) Kuntze 1898
Polytaenia obscura (Ralfs) A.J.Brook 1997

Please note: It has been shown that the genus Spirotaenia Brébisson, 1848 is polyphyletic. The publications cited below show that currently (February 2026), Sp. condensata, Sp. minuta, Sp. obscura (this item, currently listed in genus Tortitaenia Brook, 1998), and Sp. alpina have been molecularly confirmed as belonging to the Mesostigmatophyceae.

Cheng, S., Xian, W., Fu, Y., Marin, B., Keller, J., Wu, T., … & Melkonian, M. (2019). Genomes of subaerial Zygnematophyceae provide insights into land plant evolution. Cell, 179(5), 1057-1067.

Gontcharov, A. A., & Melkonian, M. (2004). Unusual position of the genus Spirotaenia (Zygnematophyceae) among streptophytes revealed by SSU rDNA and rbc L sequence comparisons. Phycologia, 43(1), 105-113.

Bierenbroodspot, M. J., Pröschold, T., Fürst-Jansen, J. M., de Vries, S., Irisarri, I., Darienko, T., & de Vries, J. (2024). Phylogeny and evolution of streptophyte algae. Annals of Botany, 134(3), 385-400.

Sampling date 06/2013. Scale bars indicate 50 µm (1), 25 µm (2–4).

Four images.

Please click on < or > on the image edges or on the dots at the bottom edge of the images to browse through the slides!

Place name: Wetland Mittermoos near Fieberbrunn (Tyrol, Austria)
Latitude: 47.47998695 Longitude: 12.5240922

Microscope Zeiss Universal, camera Canon EOS 600D. DOF images.

© Wolfgang Bettighofer,
images under Creative Commons License V 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA).
For permission to use of (high resolution) images please contact postmaster@protisten.de.

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Observations on Tortitaenia obscura

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