QUADRICOCCUS EURYHALINICUS SP. NOV. (BOTRYOCOCCACEAE, CHLOROPHYCEAE),AN EURYHALINE GREEN-ALGA FROM THE SKAGERRAK, NORTHEAST ATLANTIC-OCEAN

An elliptical, coccoid green alga, 4-11 mu m long, was observed in liv e and fixed samples from the Skagerrak and in several cultures started from water originating from the area. Cells were solitary, with two o r mostly four cells attached to a parent cell wall, or occasionally in larger colonies. They grew at salinities between 0 and 33 psu. Using HPLC pigment analysis, neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin an d chlorophyll a and b were detected, typical of algae belonging to the Chlorophyceae. The alga is similar to the three described fresh water species belonging to the genus Quadricoccus. It differs in ecology an d because typically two autospores are attached at each end of the tub ular parent cell wall. Old cultures of Q. euryhalinicus resemble syrup in consistency as each cell or colony is surrounded by mucus.