Aulosira Kirchner ex Bornet & Flahault (1886: 256)

Mcgregor, Glenn B., 2018, Freshwater Cyanobacteria of North-Eastern Australia: 3. Nostocales, Phytotaxa 359 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

Aulosira Kirchner ex Bornet & Flahault (1886: 256)

Type: A. laxa Kirchner ex Bornet & Flahault (1886: 256)

Filaments solitary or together in loose irregular clusters, rarely in mats, or growing epiphytically, with firm, distinct, colourless sheaths enveloping one or rarely two trichomes, open at the ends. Trichomes cylindrical, uniseriate, isopolar, constricted to almost unconstricted at the cross-walls, metameric, straight to slightly flexuous. Vegetative cells cylindrical or barrel-shaped, ± isodiametric to longer than wide, blue-green, pale grey blue, olive-green or reddish in colour; aerotopes only known from one species, often with prominent granules; terminal cells undifferentiated. Heterocytes solitary, intercalary, spherical, oval or cylindrical. Akinetes develop apoheterocytically, elongated, oval to cylindrical.

A widely distributed, but poorly known genus of 30 species. The majority are metaphytic or benthic, known from shallow freshwater habitats or growing on soils; one species is marine. Here three species are described from north-eastern Australia; one further species is known from elsewhere in Australia. Bibliography: Lukešová et al. (2009), Komárek (2013), Komárek et al. (2014), Hindáková & Hindák (2017).

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- Vegetative cells shorter than wide......................................................................................................................................................2 Vegetative cells isodiametric, up to 2 × longer than broad...................................................................................................... A. sp. A Akinetes either adjacent to or remote from heterocytes........................................................................................................... A. laxa Akinetes always remote from heterocytes................................................................................................................. A. cf. epiphytica