PIGMENT AND CYTOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR RECLASSIFICATION OF <i>NANNOCHLORIS OCULATA</i> AND <i>MONALIANTUS SALINA</i> IN THE EUSTIGMATOPHYCEAE¹

Abstract

SUMMARY Nannochloris oculata Droop and Monallantus salina Bourrelly produce similar chloroplast pigments and show alike ultrastructural features separating them from the Chlorophyceae and Xanthophyceae, respectively, and linking them to the Eustigmatophyceae. It is proposed that N. oculata should be removed from the chlorophyceaen genus Nannochloris and transferred to a new taxon of coccoid eustigmatophytes containing the closely related M. salina : nomenclatural revisions are required for both strains.