Cladophora

a genus of widely distributed macroscopic green algae of the class Siphonocladales. They resemble minute attached shrubs with branching filaments consisting of a single row of multinucleate cells with a layered membrane and a netted chloroplast. Reproduction may be asexual (by zoospores) or sexual (isogamy). Meiosis occurs during the formation of spores or gametes. There are about 200 species, found in both salt and fresh waters.