Florideophyceae is a class of exclusively multicellular red algae.[3][4] They were once thought to be the only algae to bear pit connections,[5] but these have since been found in the filamentous stage of the Bangiaceae.[6] They were also thought only to exhibit apical growth, but there are genera known to grow by intercalary growth.[6] Most, but not all, genera have three phases to the life cycle.[6] In the subclass Nemaliophycidae there are three orders, Balbianiales, Batrachospermales, and Thoreales, which lives exclusively in freshwater.[7]
^Dawes, C. J.; Scott, F. M.; Bowler, E. (1961). "A Light- and Electron-Microscopic Survey of Algal Cell Walls. I. Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta". American Journal of Botany. 48 (10): 925–934. doi:10.2307/2439535. JSTOR2439535.