alga vs algae

alga

noun
  • Any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms, including the seaweeds, whose size ranges from a single cell to giant kelps and whose biochemistry and forms are very diverse, some being eukaryotic. 

algae

noun
  • A particular kind of algae. 

  • Algal organisms viewed collectively or as a mass; algal growth. 

How often have the words alga and algae occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )