Chaetoceros brevis
Click on image to view photo information.
| Taxonomic Group: | Diatom |
| Trophic Status: | Autotrophic |
| Size Range: | 8-17 μm wide (Cupp 1943) |
| Key Characteristics: | One chloroplast either pressed against one valve or lobed and wrapped valve to valve; adjacent cells do not touch; setae almost straight and thin, with long basal part; sometimes present is material in setae that mimics chloroplasts |
| Confused With: | Chaetoceros diadema, which also has wide apertures and one chloroplast, but one seta of each pair lies near apical axis, the other along transapical axis (focus up and down to see that they lie in different planes); also closely related to Chaetoceros laciniosus, but which most often has two chloroplasts; also C. brevis chains are more delicate and loose |
| Toxin: | None known |