Pandorina morum – Kinneret Algae Atlas

Phylum: Chlorophyta
Class: Chlorophyceae
Order: Volvocales
Habitat: plankaton - littoral
Distinctive features: flagellated colonies of densly-packed cells, often with
Organization: flagellated coenobia
Color: green
Cell shape: spherical
Colony shape: subspherical
Cell diameter (D): 8 – 17 μm
Cell biovolume: 40 – 400 μm³
Biovolume equation: Sphere V, μm³ = 4/3 π (D/2)³.
Colony diameter: 20-60 μm
Cells per colony: 8-16

Morphological features

The coenobia are made of 8 or 16 cells compressed into a dense spherical aggregate that is surrounded by an envelope of mucilage. Each cell has two equal-length that are longer than the cell. With a cup-shaped chloroplast, 1 or more , 2 contractile vacuoles an red eyespot.

Plate 1. A flagellated coenobium of Pandorina morum from the littoral of Lake Kinneret. Red eyspots are seen on three cells, flagella on four. Photo by Alla Alster.

Ecology

Pandorina morum is common in the littoral zone of Lake Kinneret, but practically never seen in the pelagic water. Hence there are no ecological data for it. The species is common in stratified shallow lakes rich in nitrate. The specimen in Plate 1 was collected at the shore by the Kinneret Limnological Institute in March 2006.

Cite this record as: Dr. Tamar Zohary, Dr. Alla Alster. 16 June 2026. Electronic publication. Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research. https://kinneret-algae-atlas.org/ Searched on —.