# Westella

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Westella
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Westella.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westella
> Source revision: 1283261416
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Genus of algae}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Westella botryoides.png
| image_caption = ''Westella botryoides''
| genus = Westella
| species = botryoides
| parent_authority = De Wildeman, 1897
| authority = (West) De Wildeman<ref name="Algaebase">{{AlgaeBase genus | id=43506 | name=Westella | access-date=2025-03-01 }}</ref>
}}

'''''Westella''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [green algae](/source/green_algae) in the family [Scenedesmaceae](/source/Scenedesmaceae), containing the sole species '''''Westella botryoides'''''.<ref name="Algaebase"/> The species has a [cosmopolitan distribution](/source/cosmopolitan_distribution)<ref name=Bicudo_and_Menezes2006>{{cite book | title= Gêneros de Algas de Águas Continentais do Brasil: chave para identificação e descrições | edition=2 | year=2006 | first1=Carlos E. M. |last1=Bicudo | first2=Mariângela | last2= Menezes | publisher= RiMa Editora | pages=508 | isbn= 857656064X }}</ref> and is [planktonic](/source/planktonic) in freshwater rivers and ponds.<ref name=Algaebase/>

''Westella botryoides'' consists of four-celled colonies (termed coenobia) up to 15 μm; these in turn may be joined to form compound colonies consisting of over a hundred cells and reaching up to 90 μm, attached to each other by the remnants of their parental [cell wall](/source/cell_wall)s.<ref name=Bicudo_and_Menezes2006/> The four cells are typically arranged in a square,<ref name=Wang/> spherical but flattened when in contact with other cells. The cell walls are smooth; cells are uninucleate with a single, parietal [chloroplast](/source/chloroplast) containing one [pyrenoid](/source/pyrenoid).<ref name=Algaebase/> 

Two similar genera are ''[Westellopsis](/source/Westellopsis)'' and ''[Coccoidesmus](/source/Coccoidesmus)''. ''Westellopsis'' differs in having chloroplasts without pyrenoids<ref name=Bicudo_and_Menezes2006/> and usually cells arranged in a line, while ''Coccoidesmus'' has cells arranged in a tetrahedral formation.<ref name=Wang>{{cite journal|doi= 10.1007/s00343-023-3139-9|title= Phylogenetic study on Scenedesmacae with the description of a new genus ''Coccoidesmus'' gen. nov. (Chlorophyceae, Chlorophyta) and chloroplast genome analyses|date= 2024|last1= Wang|first1= Qinghua|last2= Hou|first2= Ying|last3= Li|first3= Yanhui|last4= Shi|first4= Ying|last5= Liu|first5= Guoxiang|journal= Journal of Oceanology and Limnology|volume= 42|issue= 4|pages= 1272–1285|bibcode= 2024JOL....42.1272W}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q7706270|from2=Q69672201}}

Category:Sphaeropleales genera
Category:Sphaeropleales
Category:Freshwater algae
Category:Monotypic algae genera

{{Chlorophyceae-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Westella](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westella) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westella?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.