Lake Chelan Algae Key

A1. Nonmotile algae without chloroplasts: Cyanobacteriophyta

B1. Vegetative cells usually solitary

B2. Vegetative cells united into colonies or agglomerations

C1. Cells arranged in a single layer to form flat colonies

C2. Colonies comprised of cubical, four-cell subgroups

C3. Colonies approximately spherical

C4. Cells arranged into irregular, amorphous colonies

D1. Cells appear brown and mottled under microscope

D2. Cells various colors but not mottled brown when viewed under the microscope

B3. Vegetative cells aligned end-to-end forming filaments or pseudofilaments

A2. Nonmotile algae with chloroplasts

A3. Motile algae with chloroplasts and flagella

A4. Cells divided into paired semi-cells that are approximate mirror images of each other: Desmids

A5. Cells enclosed in glassy, ornamental frustules; many species exhibit gliding movement: Diatoms