Morphology

Cells are lanceolate in valvar view, with acute endings. Cell length about 45-50 μm and width about 5-7 μm in the central area. The characteristic water-soluble blue pigments, ‘marenine’, are visible at apices. 

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Toxins and toxicity

Not toxic.

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Ecology

The blue pigment can cause the greening of oyster gills, ‘’Green Oyster’, in farming ponds. We found this species but sometimes with very weak or without blue pigments.

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Distribution and Occurrence

A marine benthic/tychopelagic species (or benthic-periphytic phytoplankton). Common, recorded from the Northern Atlantic coasts (both European and North American), Indian Ocean coast of South Africa, Australia. In this study, it was highly abundant in REF-1 in spring (March-April).

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References

Biološki Odsjek,  Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, M. Mejdandžić, S. Bosak, and Z. Ljubešić. 2017. Blue Diatoms: Global Phenomenon of ˝Greening˝ in Shellfish and Record of Planktonic Haslea Species in the South Adriatic Sea. Naše more 64: 38–44. doi:10.17818/nm/2017/1.7

Dąbek, P., R. Gastineau, T. G. Bornman, C. Lemieux, M. Turmel, G. Hallegraeff, J.-L. Mouget, and A. Witkowski. 2022. The blue diatom Haslea ostrearia from the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa, with comparative analysis of Haslea organellar genomes. Front. Mar. Sci. 9. doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.950716

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