Lookalikes
Coccolithophore species in the Noelaerhabdaceae family
Distinguishing close relatives
Emiliania huxleyi is the only species in the genus Emiliania, but within the family Noelaerhabdaceae there are several closely-related species in the genera:
- Gephyrocapsa
- Reticulofenestra
These all have the same basic coccolith structure (Young et al. 2004), but there is rarely a problem in identifying E. huxleyi as:
- in Gephyrocapsa there is bridge across the centre
- Reticulofenestra coccoliths have solid shields
Morphological variation of E. huxleyi
E. huxleyi is morphologically rather variable, for instance in terms of:
- coccolith size
- degree of calcification
- central area structure (Young et al. 2003)
It is still not clear whether this is because E. huxleyi is a single genetically variable species or a complex of several discrete, but closely related, sibling species.