Family: Colonial, usually with a gelatinous coat; 4 daughter cells are connected with filaments derived from their maternal cell wall; cell body spherical, elliptical or heart-shaped; a single chloroplast plate-like or cup-shaped containing a pyrenoid; asexual reproduction by autospore, sexual reproduction by fertilization of egg and sperm.
Genus: Planktonic; colony of 16, 32 or 64 cells, irregular in shape, without gelatinous sheath; colony consists of subsets of 4 cells connected by gelatinous filaments extending from the center; each subset consists of cells of two types, 2 cells located outward, kidney- or heart-shaped, other 2 cells located inward, cylidrical, both ends rounded; a single chloroplast plate-like in shape, slightly curved, with a pyrenoid (Guide book to the "Photomicrographs of the Freshwater Algae", 1998).

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D. lunatus large var. ? cell 22 x 7 μm USA, 1999	D. lunatus colony of 16 cells cell 20 x 6 μm Hiroshima, 1998 Movies	D. lunatus cell 19 x 4 μm Uruguay, 1999	D. lunatus cell μm Takamatsu Kagawa, 2002
D. lunatus cell μm Sue-machi Fukuoka, 2001	D. lunatus stock Fsn-2 cell μm Sue-machi Fukuoka, 2001	D. lunatus stock Fsn-3 cell μm Sue-machi Fukuoka, 2001	D. lunatus stock Hsf-36 cell μm Fukada Park Sanda Hyogo, 2001
D. lunatus ? cell μm Chiba-Minato Park Chiba, 2003	D. lunatus cell μm Omine-numa Tsukiyono Gunma, 2003	D. lunatus cell μm Omine-numa Minakami Gunma, 2007
D. lunatus cell 13 x 6 μm Imou bog Toyohashi Aichi, 2004	D. lunatus cell 16 x 7 μm water reservoir near Yamaguchi Univ. Yamaguchi, 2004
D. lunatus cell 12 x 4 μm Tane-ike Togakushi highland Nagano, 2005	D. lunatus cell x 7-9 μm Tashirodaira m. Hakkoda mountain Aomori, 2005	D. lunatus 14 x 7-8 μm Tane-ike Togakushi highland Nagano, 2005	D. lunatus 15 x 5 μm Maimeno-ike Norikura highland Nagano, 2006

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