''Tetraparma'' is a genus of unicellular algae in the family Triparmaceae in the order

Parmales The Parmales are an order of marine microalgae within the Bolidophyceae class. They are found worldwide and characterized by a cell wall composed of 5-8 interlocking silica plates with distinct forms. They were initially thought to be loricate ch ...

. They form siliceous plates on the cell surface that aid in identification. ''Tetraparma'' is distinguished by its possession of three shield plates that may have everted rims, three triradiate girdle plates, a triradiate dorsal plate with notched ends, and a large ventral plate. It was first described by Booth & Marchant in 1987 and the holotype is ''Triparma columacea''. ''Tetraparma'' cells have two forms: the motile, naked form and the non-motile siliceous form. The motile cells propelled by two flagella of unequal length, typical of

heterokont Heterokonts are a group of protists (formally referred to as Heterokonta, Heterokontae or Heterokontophyta). The group is a major line of eukaryotes. Most are algae, ranging from the giant multicellular kelp to the unicellular diatoms, which a ...

s. The non-motile forms do not possess flagella but instead have a silicified cell wall with a distinctive plate morphology: three shield plates, three triradiate girdle plates, a triradiate dorsal plate with notched ends, and a small ventral plate. Both forms contain a single, dorsal chloroplast that contains chlorophylls ''a'' and ''c_1-3'' as well as

fucoxanthin Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll, with formula C42H58O6. It is found as an accessory pigment in the chloroplasts of brown algae and most other heterokonts, giving them a brown or olive-green color. Fucoxanthin absorbs light primarily in the blue-green ...

. They are typically 2-5 μm in size and generally spherical or heart-shaped.

Taxonomy

* Class

Bolidophyceae Bolidophyceae is a class of photosynthetic heterokont picophytoplankton, and consist of less than 20 known species. They are distinguished by the angle of flagellar insertion and swimming patterns as well as recent molecular analyses. Bolidophyc ...

Guillou & Chretiennot-Dinet 1999 ** Order

Booth & Marchant 1987 *** Family Triparmaceae Booth & Marchant 1988 **** Genus ''Tetraparma'' Booth & Marchant 1987 ***** Species '' T. catinifera'' Booth 1987 ***** Species '' T. gracilis'' Ichinomiya & Lopes dos Santos 2016 ***** Species '' T. insecta'' Booth 1987 ***** Species '' T. pelagica'' (Guillou & Chrétiennot-Dinet) Ichinomiya & Lopes dos Santos 2016 ***** Species '' T. silverae'' (Guillou & Chrétiennot-Dinet) Ichinomiya & Lopes dos Santos 2016 ***** Species '' T. trullifera'' Booth 1987

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21224239 Algae genera Ochrophyta Heterokont genera