Phaeocystis globosa

You may have never heard of Phaeocystis, but if you ever take a walk along the beach in late spring or summer and see lots of foam along the waterline, you are looking at these one-celled algae. No wonder it's nicknamed foam algae. Phaeocystis is brown and slimy. Lots of people mistake the brownish foam as pollution. However, it is a natural phenomenon. After the algae have died (blossomed), the wind and waves whip it up into foam. The foam is eventually degraded by bacteria.

Phaeocystis globosa occurs in two stages: flagellated cells and nonmotile cells forming colonies. The nonmotile stage forms smooth round colonies, not forming lobes, with cells distributed evenly along the surface of the colony. Colonies are up to 2mm in diameter. The motile stage of P. globosa has a short haptonema and two flagella, both greater than the cell length. The haptonema is absent in the nonmotile stage.

Phaeocystis globosa is photosynthetic

P. globosa is a temperate species and is found in oceanic and coastal areas.

Phaeocystis globosa occurs both as solitary cells and in colonies. Solitary forms differ from colonial ones in that they lack a haptonema.

Phaeocystis globosa and Phaeocystis pouchetii are thought to be synonymous by some authors.