Capsosira

Generic name: CAPSOSIRA Kützing ex Bornet et Flahault, 1888. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., ser. 7, 5: 79.

Synonyms:

Diagnosis:
Bornet et Flahault (1888): Fila lateraliter concreta in frondibus pulvinatis hemisphaericis pagina inferiori adfixis; omnia conformia, erecta, ramosa, e cellularum série subsimplici composita. Vaginae septatae; heterocystae intercalares et laterales; hormogonia (secundum Borzi) e cellulis 10-20 composita. Sporae? sphaericae, episporio crasso fusco. Planta aquatica, Rivularieis planis subsimilis. (Conf. Borzi, Morfologia e biologia delle Alghe ficocromacee, in N. Giornale bot. ital., vol. XI, 1879, p. 378.)

Type species: Capsosira brebissonii Kützing ex Bornet et Flahault, 1888.

Descriptions:
Komárek (1992):Thallous; thallus attached to the substrate, cushion-like, hemispherical or prostrate, up to several mm high, brownish or blackish, gelatinous, later confluent from more subcolonies, in the middle sometimes + concentrically layered, composed from basal, irregular, densely tangled trichomes (sometimes joined in a dense irregular cell mass - "chroococcal" stages), from which grow long, erected,parallely and densely gathered, radially oriented, true branched trichomes, with numerous, repeatedly
pseudodichotomously (rarely laterally) divaricated branches, growing +/- in the same radial direction. Branching types "Y" and "T". Trichomes uniseriate, constricted at cross
walls. Sheaths fine, thick, not or sometimes slightly lamellated, firm or diffluent, colourless or yellowish-brown. Cells subspherical, barrel-shaped, rounded-quadratic or rounded-polygonal, with blue-green content. Heterocytes intercalar or lateral, +/- ellipsoidal, with colourless or yellowish cell wall. Akinetes arise sporadically in basal parts, with firm, thick, brown cell wall.

Genotype differences, molecular data:

Reproduction strategies, life cycles, cell division:
Komárek (1992): Cell division in branches mainly crosswise, less lengthwise (before branching and sometimes before heterocyte formation), in basal parts usually irregularly in more directions. Reproduction by terminal hormogonia (2- up to 20-celled) differentiating from the ends of branches, and by terminally liberating monocytes.

Ultrastructure:

Taxonomic position, higher hierarchy: Cyanophyceae, Stigonematales, Capsosiraceae
Notes to taxonomy, misinterpretations:

Ecology, ecophysiology, ecological significance:
Komárek (1992): The type species was described from Europe, later found in various places all over the world including tropical countries, but recently not confirmed; it occurs attached to water plants, stones and submersed wood in swamps and on wet rocks (identity of all these samples is not doubtless). Another species was described from Brasil (epiphytic on Stigonema and Batrachospermum on submerged rocks in clean running waters).

Physiology and biochemistry:

Distribution, endemism, problematic citations:

Reference strain:

Infrageneric scheme, species concept:

List of species:
Capsosira brebissonii Kützing ex Bornet et Flahault, 1888. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., ser. 7, 5: 79
Capsosira lowei Casamatta, Gomez et Johansen, 2006. Hydrobiologia 561: 21

Keys:

List of stains:

Drawings:

Komárek 1992

Casamatta et al. 2006

Application technology:

Literature:

	2.1 taxonomy: Fremy 1930, Geitler 1932, Geitler 1942, Bourrelly 1970, Sant Anna et Silva 1988, Komárek 1992, Casamatta et al. 2006
	2.2 cytomorphology:
	2.3 16S rRNA sequencing: Casamatta et al. 2006
	2.4 biology and life cycles:
	2.5 ecology:

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