Gonium
![](/Images/godic/202501/15/Gonium_pectorale_EPA5324.jpg")
![Gonium colony of 16 cells at nominal magnification of 450x.](/Images/godic/202501/15/Gonium_colony_from_Louisiana_at_450x5324.jpg")
Gonium is a genus of colonial algae, a member of the order Volvocales. Typical colonies have 4 to 16 cells, all the same size, arranged in a flat plate, with no anterior-posterior differentiation. In a colony of 16 cells, four are in the center, and the other 12 are on the four sides, three each. A description by G.M. Smith (1920, p. 94):