Eustigmatophyceae

Eustigmatophyceae

[‚yüs·tig‚ma·də′fī·sē·ē]

(botany)

A small class of mostly nonmotile, photosynthetic, unicellular algae in the division Chromophycota, characterized by the unique organization of motile cells, photosynthetic pigments including chlorophyll a, beta-carotene, and violaxanthin, and a single parietal yellow-green chloroplast; live chiefly in fresh water but also in marine and soilhabitats.