The chandelier speck split from their ancestor, the chlorocytus, and doubled in size. It no longer swims but hangs down from the top of the water using surface tension, moving up and down according to light levels, temperature, and danger. The two flagella became attached to each other at the tips while virtually unattached from the cell, one is now tough and bristled at the end and is used to stick to the surface of the water. The other is looped around the first flagellum and the cell slides on this one to move, the loops either flex or relax to move the cell up or down. The cell body is flatter and curled for more surface area to collect light.
Living Relatives (click to show/hide)
These are randomly selected, and organized from lowest to highest shared taxon. (This may correspond to similarity more than actual relation)
