CLASSIFICATION OF ALGAE

 CLASSIFICATION OF ALGAE

Characters	Division of Algae
	Chlorophyta (Green algae)	Rhodophyta      (Red algae)	Phaeophyta (Brown algae)	Chrysophyta  (Golden algae, Yellow-green algae and Bacillariophyceae - Diatoms)	Pyrrophyta (Dinoflagellates)	Euglenophyta (Euglenids)
Kingdom	Plantae	Rhodophyta	Stramenophila	Stramenophila	Alveolatta	Euglenozoa
Representative genera	Chlamydomonas Spirogyra Chara Prototheca Codium Trebouxia	Chondrus Gracilaria Gelidium Antithamnion	Macrocystis	Stephanodiscus	Gymnodinium Gonyaulax Pfiesteria	Euglena
Cellular nature	Unicellular or Multicellular	Multicellular	Multicellular	Unicellular	Unicellular	Unicellular
Habitat	Fresh, Brackish, and Salt water; Terrestrial	Mostly salt water	Brackish and Salt water	Fresh, Brackish and Salt water; Terrestrial; Ice	Fresh, Brackish and Salt water	Fresh, Brackish and Salt water; Terrestrial
Cell wall components	Cellulose or Glycoprotein; Absent in some Algae	Agar or Carrageenan, Some with Calcium carbonate	Cellulose and Alginic acid	Cellulose, Pectin & Silica (Particularly in Diatoms); Calcium carbonate	Cellulose	Absent
Pigments	Chlorophylls a and b, Carotene, Xanthophylls	Chlorophyll a, Phycoerythrin, Phycocyanin, Xanthophylls	Chlorophylls a and c, Carotene, Xanthophylls	Chlorophylls a, c1, and c2; Carotene; Xanthophylls	Chlorophylls a, c1, c2; Carotene	Chlorophylls a and b; Carotene
Storage products	Sugar and Starch	Glycogen (Floridean starch)	Laminarin and Oils	Chrysolaminarin and Oils	Starch and Oils	Paramylon, Oils and Sugars
Mode of Reproduction	Both Asexual and Sexual reproduction	Sexual reproduction	Both Asexual and Sexual reproduction	Both Asexual and Sexual reproduction	Asexual reproduction (Binary fission)	Asexual reproduction (Binary fission)
Locomotion	Most have Flagella	Non-motile	Have two Flagella	Non-motile	Have two Flagella	Have two Flagella (One long and One short)
Pathogenicity	Non-pathogenic	Few produce Toxins	Non-pathogenic	Produce Toxins	Produce Toxins	Produce Toxins