Clustered Stonewort vs Natterer's Bat

Tolypella glomerata compared with Myotis nattereri

Key Differences

Clustered Stonewort is Vulnerable while Natterer's Bat is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clustered Stonewort	Natterer's Bat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Charophyta (Charophyta)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Charophyceae (Charophyceae)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Charales (Charales)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Characeae	Vespertilionidae
Genus	Tolypella	Myotis
Species	Tolypella glomerata	Myotis nattereri

Conservation Status

Clustered Stonewort

VU — Vulnerable

Natterer's Bat

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clustered Stonewort	Natterer's Bat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clustered Stonewort

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Natterer's Bat

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate coniferous forests, and temperate grasslands and steppes within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clustered Stonewort

Tolypella glomerata, the clustered stonewort, is a charophyte alga in the family Characeae, found in calcareous, nutrient-poor freshwater habitats including lakes, ponds, ditches, and slow-flowing water in northwestern and northern Europe. Charophytes are macroscopic green algae with a distinctive whorl-like arrangement of branches and a complex, plant-like structure that distinguishes them from other algae. T. glomerata is encrusted with calcium carbonate deposits (hence 'stonewort'), giving it a pale, grey-green appearance and rough texture. The species colonizes clear, low-nutrient water over fine sediment or gravel substrates where competition from vascular plants is reduced by nutrient limitation. It is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, reflecting significant declines driven by eutrophication (nutrient enrichment from agriculture and sewage), which promotes the growth of vascular plants and phytoplankton that shade out stoneworts. Drainage, water abstraction, and peat cutting also threaten its habitats. Charophyte diversity has declined substantially across lowland Europe and North America over the past century, with many species becoming locally extinct from sites they once colonized.