What is the difference between a stream cipher and a one-time-pad? A (synchronous) stream cipher is an algorithm which maps some fixed-length key to an arbitrary-length key-stream (i.e. a sequence of bits): $C : \{0,1\}^k \to \{0,1\}^{\infty}$.

This key-stream is then XOR-ed with the plain text stream, giving the ciphertext stream.
For decrypting, the same key-stream (generated from the key at the receiver side) will be XOR-ed with the ciphertext stream, giving again the key stream.

A One-time pad is an algorithm which takes a key of large size (at least message size), and XORs its start with the plaintext to get the ciphertext. For decryption, we XOR the start of the key with the ciphertext to get back the plaintext.

These look quite similar – could one say that a stream-cipher is a (special way to create/use a) one-time pad, or that the one-time pad is a kind of stream cipher?

Are there any important differences between these two classes of algorithms?
There is no universally accepted definition of the expression "stream cipher"; but the one I most often encounter is the following: a stream cipher is a symmetric encryption algorithm which accepts as inputs arbitrary sequences of bits (or bytes) such that:


the length of the output is equal to the length of the input (no padding);
for any $n$ (possibly any $n$ which is a multiple of 8 if we restrict ourself to bytes), the first $n$ output bits depend only on the key and the first $n$ input bits, regardless of the value of the subsequent input bits.


In that sense, the One-Time Pad is a stream cipher. A block cipher used in CTR mode or CFB mode is also a stream cipher. Note that the latter is not of the kind "XOR with a stream generated from the key independently of the input data". The Wikipedia page you link to talks about "synchronous stream ciphers" and "self-synchronzing stream ciphers".

However, the ultimate security of the One-Time Pad comes from the key size: it is unbreakable because it assumes that the key is as long as the message and was generated by an unpredictable mechanism. If you generate the pad with a more conventional stream cipher, working over a small fixed-size key, then it is no longer a One-Time Pad, just a "regular" stream cipher. The expression "One-Time Pad" refers to, exclusively, the mythical scheme which uses truly random long keys. So while One-Time Pad is a stream ciphers, stream ciphers are not One-Time Pads.