:Enallax

{{Short description|Genus of algae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Enallax

| authority = Pascher

| type_species = Enallax coelastroides

| type_species_authority = (Bohlin) Skuja

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• Enallax coelastroides
• Enallax costatus

}}

Enallax is a genus of green algae in the family Scenedesmaceae.See the NCBI [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=91195 webpage on Enallax]. Data extracted from the {{cite web | url=http://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/taxonomy/ | title=NCBI taxonomy resources | publisher=National Center for Biotechnology Information | accessdate=2007-03-19}} It is found in freshwater habitats, such as peat bogs or wet rocks.{{AlgaeBase genus|id=45463|name=Enallax|access-date=2023-11-25}}

Enallax consists of colonies, termed coenobia. Each colony comprises two, four, or eight cells arranged in a row or two alternating rows. Cells are ellipsoidal, cylindrical or fusiform, with their longest axes aligned more or less parallel to each other. The cell walls have three to six longitudinal ribs running from pole to pole. Each cell has one parietal chloroplast with a single pyrenoid.{{cite book | title= Gêneros de Algas de Águas Continentais do Brasil: chave para identificação e descrições | edition=2 | year=2006 | first1=Carlos E. M. |last1=Bicudo | first2=Mariângela | last2= Menezes | publisher= RiMa Editora | pages=508 | isbn= 857656064X }} Cells are uninucleate. Cells may accumulate droplets of oil giving them a reddish color. Enallax reproduces asexually via the formation of autospores. The autospores form into the shape of a colony while in the mother cell, and are released by a tear in the mother cell wall.{{cite book | title= Chlorophyceae (Grünalgen), Ordnung Chlorococcales | last1=Komárek | first1=J. | last2=Fott | first2=B. | date=1983 | publisher= E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung | series=Das Phytoplankton des Süßwassers | language=German | pages=1044 }}

The genus has existed since at least the Cretaceous period, as evidenced by amber deposits from France containing the fossil species Enallax napoleonis.{{cite journal |last=Girard |first=Vincent |date=2009 |title=Evidence of Scenedesmaceae (Chlorophyta) from 100 million-year-old amber |journal=Geodiversitas |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=145–151 |doi=10.5252/g2009n1a13 |s2cid=129466659 |url=https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/geodiversitas/31/1/presence-de-scenedesmaceae-chlorophytes-dans-un-ambre-vieux-de-100-millions-d-annees |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511231509/https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/geodiversitas/31/1/presence-de-scenedesmaceae-chlorophytes-dans-un-ambre-vieux-de-100-millions-d-annees |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}