| Zoochlorella | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Archaeplastida |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Chlorophyceae |
| Order: | Chlorococcales |
| Family: | Oocystaceae |
| Genus: | Zoochlorella K. Brandt, 1881 |
Zoochlorella is a genus of alga comprising one species, Z. parasitica. The term Zoochlorella (plural zoochlorellae) is sometimes used to refer to any green alga that lives symbiotically within the body of a freshwater or marine invertebrate or protozoan. Zoochlorellae and zooxanthellae may both be found in the Pacific coast sea anemones Anthopleura elegantissima and Anthopleura xanthogrammica.
The analogy between Zoochlorella and Chromatophores has been used by the botanist Konstantin Mereschkowski in 1905 to argue about the symbiotic origin of the chromatophores.[1]
Zoochlorellae are responsible for the greenish color of sea anemone tentacles.