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Carteria
Carteria obtusa, Dill. F, G: Vegetative cells, H, J, K: Stages of gametes mating
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Supergroup:	Archaeplastida
Clade:	Viridiplantae
Division:	Chlorophyta
Class:	Chlorophyceae
Order:	Chlamydomonadales
Family:	Chlamydomonadaceae
Genus:	Carteria Diesing
Species
Carteria crucifera Carteria radiosa Carteria eugametos Carteria olivieri Carteria inversa Carteria cerasiformis Carteria obtusa Carteria sp. UTEX2 Carteria lunzensis Carteria palmata

Carteria is a genus of green algae in the family Chlamydomonadaceae.^[1] Carteria are similar in morphology to the common genus Chlamydomonas and differ by having four, rather than two, flagella at the vegetative stage.^[2]

The genus name of Carteria is in honour of Henry John Carter, (1813–1895), who was a surgeon working in Bombay, India, who carried out work in geology, paleontology, and zoology.^[3]

The genus was circumscribed by Karl Moriz Diesing in Sitzungsber. Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss., Wien, Math.-Nat. Cl., Abt. Vol.1 Issue 52 on page 356 in 1866.

Carteria is a single-celled organism. The cell is surrounded by a conspicuous wall which is often differentiated into a papilla at the anterior of the cell. There are four flagella, inserted at the location of the papilla, with a cruciate arrangement. Cells contain a single chloroplast. Pyrenoids are present, with one or several. There are often two contractile vacuoles per cell.^[4]

Asexual reproduction occurs via zoospore formation within the parent cell wall.^[2] The mode of sexual reproduction varies within Carteria: some species are isogamous, while Carteria obtusa is anisogamous.^[5]

Over seventy species of Carteria have been described from freshwater and terrestrial habitats.^[4] The chloroplast shape is species-specific and provides the basis for classification.^[6]

Among the 4-flagellate algae, various genera have been split off from Carteria based on morphological evidence. Among them are Provasoliella, which lacks pyrenoids,^[7] and Pseudocarteria, which has multiple (more than two) contractile vacuoles dispersed throughout the cytoplasm.^[8]

It is likely that additional research will lead to further revision of this genus.^[6] Based on the ultrastructure of the flagellar basal bodies, Lembi et al. divided Carteria into two groups. Group I contains spherical cells with flagellar bodies oriented in a cross. Group II contains ellipsoidal cells with flagellar bodies oriented in a four-armed spiral.^[9] Molecular data also agree with this grouping; the two groups together do not form a monophyletic group.^[5]