Great post by Bill Cody. I just assumed the evil "filamentous algae" in all of the Pond Boss posts was a single species that was ubiquitous across most of the U.S.

Went to look it up based on Bill's comment.

Just in genus Spirogyra, there are more than 400 different species!

Genus Cladophora has at least 183 different species.

Further, there are many other types of filamentous algae that are not even in the same taxonomic Class. (That is four levels higher than Species!)

Finally, it appears that many of the filamentous algae are not even closely related. Rather, they are an example of "convergent evolution" where their traits are derived from fitting into their environment. (For example, birds and bats are not closely related, but their wings are similar due to the requirements to achieve flight.)

My interpretation of Bill's comment regarding filamentous algae: Follow the advice given by the experts on Pond Boss. However, that advice might not work on your particular FA, so you must also consider a Plan B, if Plan A is not working.

(Any experts, please feel free to expand or correct my comments above.)