13 Photosynthetic Stramenopiles I

Chrysophyceans, Synurophyceans, Eustigmatophyceans, Raphidophyceans, Pelagophyceans, and Dictyochophyceans

The diversity of photosynthetic stramenopiles is truly amazing. Such diversity includes the diatoms and bolidophyceans (Chapter 12), brown algae and their close relatives (Chapter 14), and the six classes described in this chapter: chrysophyceans, synurophyceans, eustigmatophyceans, raphidophyceans, pelagophyceans, and dictyochophyceans (Figure 13.1). Although a few of the species classified in these six groups live in the periphyton (attached to submerged surfaces), most occur in the phytoplankton as swimming or floating single cells or colonies. Certain species are notorious for forming harmful marine blooms, while others bloom in freshwaters, sometimes affecting the taste of drinking water.