''Chaetoceros danicus'' is a marine
unicellular
A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells. Organisms fall into two general categories: prokaryotic organisms and ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
diatom
A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...
in the family
Chaetocerotaceae
Chaetocerotaceae is a diatom family ( Bacillariophyta). This family comprise the three genera ''Attheya'' T. West, '' Bacteriastrum'' Shadbolt and ''Chaetoceros'' Ehrenberg. ''Chaetoceros'' is perhaps the largest and most species rich genus of m ...
, first
described by
Cleve in 1889. Individual cells of ''C.danicus'' do not form long chains, unlike most other species of ''
Chaetoceros
''Chaetoceros'' is probably the largest genus of marine planktonic diatoms with approximately 400 species described, although many of these descriptions are no longer valid. It is often very difficult to distinguish between different ''Chaet ...
''. It forms
siliceous oozes.
References
Coscinodiscophyceae
{{Diatom-stub