noun
- A genus of colonial green algae consisting of a small number of flagellated cells arranged in a flat plate.
Usage: biology; microbiology
Examples
- Gonium is commonly studied in biology classes as an example of a simple multicellular organism.
- Under a microscope, gonium colonies appear as a small square or rectangular arrangement of cells.
- The cells in a gonium colony are connected by protoplasmic strands.
- Gonium reproduces both asexually and sexually depending on environmental conditions.
- Students observe gonium in freshwater samples during microbiology lab experiments.