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- This
genus is named for the gliding, rotating, or oscillating motion
of the filament around its axis. The trichomes are straight,
slightly undulating, or coiled, and are made up of disk-shaped
cells wider than they are long. In some species the end cells
- can
be rounded or tapered. The cells do not have gas vesicles, but
sometimes contain large granules.
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- Unlike
Lyngbya and Phormidium, Oscillatoria
does not usually have a true sheath, although parallel filaments
may form a thin film. Mucilage sheaths may also occasionally
form under stressful conditions, such as dessication or hypersalinity,
or in culture. Oscillatoria is also closely related to
the genera Planktothrix, Limnothrix, Tychonema,
and Trichodesmium. Several former species of Oscillatoria
with thinner filaments and differences in morphology are now
classified as species of Planktothrix, Pseudanabaena,
or Limnothrix.
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- Oscillatoria culture specimens did possess
sheaths (arrow).
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