Cylindrospermum licheniforme Kützing ex Bornet & Flahault (1886: 253)

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

Cylindrospermum licheniforme Kützing ex Bornet & Flahault (1886: 253) Fig. 44 A–F.

Thallus mucilaginous, flat, amorphous, pale blue-green to brown in colour. Trichomes flexuous, constricted at the cross walls. Vegetative cells cylindrical barrel-shaped, isodiametric or slightly longer than wide, 4.5–7.0 μm long × 3.5–7.0 μm broad, without aerotopes. Heterocytes elongate conical or ovoid, 7–12 μm long × 7–8 μm broad, adjacent to akinetes. Akinetes elliptical to broadly ovate, 20–43 μm long × 10–14 μm broad, with smooth reddish-brown exospore.

Specimens examined:—Balonne R. at Weribone, Condamine R. at Cotswold, Condamine R. at Leslie Reserve, Condamine R. at Sunnyside, Condamine R. at Yarramalong, Coopers Ck Yorakah Waterhole at Tanbar, Culgoa R. at Woolerbilla, Little Yabba Ck at Maleny Kenilworth Rd Crossing, Narran R. at Dirrandandi-Hebel Rd, Thomson R. Waterloo Waterhole at Noonbah, Yabba Ck at Stirling’s Crossing, Wenlock R. at Moreton.

Other records:— Queensland: Bailey (1895), Bailey (1913), McLeod (1975), Möbius (1895); New South Wales: Paterson R., Pound Crossing Bridge, Singleton-Gresford Rd, Entwisle, 1991 (MEL).

Observations:—Forming thin, unstructured mucilaginous mats on the substrate, or attached to submerged aquatic plants. Known from throughout temperate and subtropical areas. Komárek (2013) considers C. licheniforme to be a temperate species and populations from tropical countries most likely to be C. goetzei , a species which Playfair (1918) described as intermingled with C. stagnale from Lismore, New South Wales.