A genus of microscopic freshwater green algae with distinctive disc or cup-shaped cells, found in water on plants and rocks worldwide.
Scientific name from Greek 'koleos' (sheath) plus 'chaeta' (hair or bristle), referring to the sheathed bristles or appendages characteristic of these algae.
Coleochaete is so important to evolutionary biology that scientists have completely sequenced its genome—finding it has genes shared with both simple algae and complex land plants, making it a 'living ancestor' of sorts!
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