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plural diatoms
Any of a group of minute unicellular algae having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, now categorized as class Diatomophyceae or division Bacillariophyta. quotations examples
Diatoms are enclosed in two shells that fit together like a pillbox.
1967, George K. Reid, edited by Herbert S. Zim and George S. Fichter, Pond Life, New York: Golden Press, page 31
Diatoms are characterized by a cell wall called a fistula made of silica, which usually has two overlapping sections.
2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Granta Books, published 2013, page 287