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Diatoma

Diatoma have thick glass cell walls with deep grooves which may appear less parallel than those in other genuses.  These grooves are not made of striae, but are instead called "transapical ribs,"which give the genus its distinct look.

D. tenuis

  • Cells are 20-85 µm in length, 3-5 µm in width.

  • Transapical ribs are 6-11 per 10 µm.

  • In valve view, rounded bulb ends.  In girdle view, ends flare and are flat.

For more information, visit diatoms.org here.

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Valve view:

Girdle view:

All images taken and owned by Thomas Shannon, in association with the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the UW-Madison Center for Limnology.

For information on image use, please contact tshannon3@wisc.edu

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