The chrysomonads include mainly single-celled and colonial flagellates, but amoeboid (rhizopodial), plasmodial, palmelloid (capsoid), coccoid, filamentous and parenchymatous forms also occur. Chrysomonads are mainly freshwater organisms, with only a few species reported from marine environments and a few from soil and snow habitats. They live in a wide range of freshwater environments from polar regions to the tropics, but most commonly occur in cold temperate lakes, ponds and bogs.