Observations on Closterium striolatum

Description: The cells are (5)–8–12–(15) times as long as they are wide, cylindrical and straight in the middle, slightly curved and continuously narrowing towards the broadly rounded, slightly thickened cell ends. The cell wall is finely striped with usually easily recognizable belt bands, the end vacuoles usually contain one crystal each. It can be distinguished from the morphologically very similar Closterium costatum by both the finely striped cell wall and the shape of the cell ends.

Dimension: Length (160)–200–400–(600) µm, width (20)–25–40–(50) µm.

Occurrence:  A very adaptable species, it is widespread in both moderately acidic and alkaline waters, sometimes even in large numbers.

Left: Original graphic by Prof. Lenzenweger.
Right: Photomicrograph by Prof. Lenzenweger. For microphotography, the microscope illumination was adjusted in such a way that as many features as possible that are important for species identification are prominently displayed.

Copyright by Prof. Rupert Lenzenweger, Ried im Innkreis, Austria.