A National Ocean Service/National Center for Coastal Ocean Science Program
Phytoplankton Monitoring Network
Promoting a better understanding of harmful algal blooms by way of volunteer monitoring
Species Spotlight Archive
Species Spotlight: Skeletonema costatum
S. costatum (Greville) Cleve is a centric diatom which produces characteristic bead-like chains. Between each cell are many strutted processes which connect each cell in the chain. This species has been on the PMN species list since the inception of the program in 2001. Since that time, this species has been reported in high abundance and bloom concentrations mainly during the spring and fall months. The number of observations of this species usually peaks in September and October.
