The name Glossomastix is an English transliteration of classical Greek words meaning "tongue" and "whip". It refers to the unique and bizarre "zoospores" of this otherwise nondescript golden alga, which have both a flagellum (the whip) and a long thin pseudopod (the tongue). These "zoospores" swim poorly; usually, when they move at all, they glide along hard substrates using the pseudopod.
The alga to which these "zoospores" belong was first described in 2001, as the new species Glossomastix chrysoplasta in the new genus Glossomastix. So far, G. chrysoplasta is known to occur only in marine environments along the south coast of Australia.
Glossomastix is a photosynthetic member of the "stramenopile" or "chromist" protist lineage. It forms a separate clade with four other genera, called the "pinguiophyte" lineage, or Pinguiophyceae, which was also first described in 2001.
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