Pleurotaenium is a genus of green algae, specifically of the desmids (Desmidiaceae).

[1] Long, cylindrical, bilaterally symmetrical unicells with blunt ends.

Ring-like thickening in the central area where the two semicells join.

In a good specimen, very delightful to look at due to obvious intracellular activity, especially at the ends.

Asexual: cells arise from the partitioned parent cell Sexual: Conjugation (transmission of DNA through nucleus fusion to form a hypnozygote or zygospore, which is a term for a zygote that lies dormant until optimal conditions arise)