Phycology notes covering algae, their classification, morphology, reproduction, physiology, ecology, life cycles, economic importance, and major freshwater and marine algal groups.
Spirogyra is a filamentous green algae. It is free floating in nature. It is mainly found in freshwater bodies like ponds, lakes and slow moving streams. It is commonly called water silk or pond scum. This name is given because its filament is soft, slimy and slippery. The filament is covered by mucilaginous sheath. The … Read more
Volvox is a freshwater green algae. It forms hollow and spherical colony. It is also known as globe algae or rolling green algae. It is found in ponds, lakes, ditches and puddles. It occurs in freshwater bodies in different parts of the world. Sometimes the colony can be seen by naked eye. The colony of … Read more
Anabaena is a filamentous cyanobacteria. It is commonly known as blue green algae. It is found in freshwater, marine water and soil. It may be present as plankton or mat like form. It is multicellular organism. The cells are arranged in unbranched chain. This chain is called trichome. The cells are bead like. These vegetative … Read more
Algae are a group of autotrophic, photosynthetic and oxygen producing organisms, which are mostly found in aquatic habitat. They are present in both freshwater and marine water, but some forms are also found on moist soil, tree bark and other terrestrial places. They contain chlorophyll and prepare their own food by the process of photosynthesis. … Read more
Euglena is a unicellular microscopic organism belonging to the kingdom Protista. It is generally found in freshwater ponds, lakes, streams and water having organic matter. Some species are also found in brackish water, salt water and moist soil. Euglena shows both plant and animal characters. It has chloroplast with chlorophyll, so in presence of sunlight … Read more
Toxigenic algae are the microscopic algae which produce toxic substances. These may be some microalgae and cyanobacteria. They are found in freshwater, sea water and brackish water. Under suitable condition, these algae multiply very fast. Warm temperature, stagnant or slow moving water and excess nutrients help in their growth. This rapid growth is called harmful … Read more
Brown algae are the large group of mostly marine and multicellular algae. They are commonly called as brown seaweeds. They mostly grow in cold and shallow sea water, especially on rocky sea coast. They are known as Phaeophyceae. Their body is not differentiated into true root, stem and leaves. The plant body is called thallus. … Read more
Rhodophyta are commonly called red algae. It is one of the oldest and large group of eukaryotic algae. Most of them are marine forms. Few species are also found in freshwater. The red colour is due to phycobilins. The main pigment is phycoerythrin. This pigment absorbs blue and green light. These lights can go deep … Read more
Algal cultivation is the process of growing microalgae. These are very small photosynthetic organisms. They use light, water and carbon dioxide. Then they grow and multiply. During this process algal cells produce many useful substances. Protein, lipid and carbohydrate are produced. These are stored in the algal biomass. Microalgae can be grown in freshwater. They … Read more
Algae are economically very useful organisms. They are used in food, agriculture, medicine, industry and fuel production. They grow very fast. They can grow in sea water and waste water also. For this reason they are used as cheap biological material. Many algae are used as food. Spirulina and Chlorella are used as food supplement. … Read more
