Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Cryptomonadaceae

Cryptomonadaceae is a family of Cryptophyceae in the order Cryptomonadales. The unicellular algae of this family have a furrow-gullet complex. They typically have chloroplasts that are reddish or greenish in color, with nucleomorphs located between the nucleus and the pyrenoid. There may be more than one pyrenoid. The life cycle of these organisms is complex, as they can have cryptomorph and campylomorph phases. Both states have morphological differences.

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Cryptomonadaceae
Cryptomonas platyuris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Cryptista
Superclass: Cryptomonada
Class: Cryptophyceae
Order: Cryptomonadales
Family: Cryptomonadaceae
Ehrenberg, 1831
Type genus
Cryptomonas
Ehrenberg, 18311
Genera2
Synonyms
  • Cryptomonadidae Clakins 1901
  • Cryptomonadinae Reichenow 1928
  • Cryptomonadoideae Huber-Pestalozzi 1950 ex Melchior 1954
  • Cryptomonadeae Pascher 1913
  • Campylomonadaceae Clay, Kugrens & Lee 1999
  • Chilomonadidae Kent 1881
  • Chilomonadaceae Lemmermann 1903
  • Chilomonadoideae Melchior 2019
  • Eucryptomonadidae Reichenow 1928
  • Eucryptomonadinae Pascher 1913

Cryptomonadaceae is a family of Cryptophyceae in the order Cryptomonadales. The unicellular algae of this family have a furrow-gullet complex. They typically have chloroplasts that are reddish or greenish in color, with nucleomorphs located between the nucleus and the pyrenoid (if present). There may be more than one pyrenoid. The life cycle of these organisms is complex, as they can have cryptomorph and campylomorph phases. Both states have morphological differences.3

Thus, the cryptomorph has a complex furrow with a stoma, a more oval or rounded cell shape, and an internal periplast component (IPC) made of multiple plates. In the campylomorph, the furrow is simple without a stoma, the vestibulum has a vestibular ligule, the cell shape is more sigmoid, and the IPC is composed of a single lamella.3

Cryptomorphs possess a fibrous furrow plate and a short rhizostyle without wings (lamellae). Campylomorphs possess a scalariform plate and a long, keeled rhizostyle with wings (lamellae).3

Not all species have found both cryptomorph-campylomorph states; in some, only one of these states has been found, and the other is unknown or still under investigation, since there are described species that were later reassigned as synonyms of others, when it was seen that they were actually one of these morphological states.4

References

References

  1. Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2025. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, University of Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 14 May 2026.
  2. Cryptomonadaceae (Ehrenberg, 1831) . Retrieved through: Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera on 15 May 2026.
  3. "Cryptomonads", Freshwater Algae of North America, Academic Press, pp. 809–850, 2015-01-01, doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-385876-4.00018-9, retrieved 2026-05-06
  4. Hoef-Emden, Kerstin; Melkonian, Michael (2003-10-01). "Revision of the Genus Cryptomonas (Cryptophyceae): a Combination of Molecular Phylogeny and Morphology Provides Insights into a Long-Hidden Dimorphism". Protist. 154 (3): 371–409. doi:10.1078/143446103322454130. ISSN 1434-4610.
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