|
Specimen
039
A colony of Volvox from a sample of water collected from Kingfisher Pond in Northstowe. Volvox is a genus of some 20 species of freshwater green algae (division Chlorophyta) found in nutrient-rich freshwater environments worldwide. The Volvox cells form spherical or oval hollow colonies that may contain some 500 to 60,000 cells wrapped in a gelatinous wall. These colonies move by rolling around in the water, like rotating spheres. The cells work together to find food for energy. Some of the cells have eye spots which direct the colony toward sunlight, which is then harvested and converted into sugar. Volvox is a photoautotroph, or an organism that produces its own biomass by utilizing light from the sun and inorganic materials such as carbon dioxide and minerals. Volvox algae is green because of its high concentration of chlorophyll, the pigment used to absorb the sunlight. |