KONGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND. 27. N:0 3. 191 



Achnanthidium (KtiTz. 1844) Heib. 1863. 



Outline more or less linear, rarely elliptical. Valves dissimilar. Upper valve without cen- 

 tral nodule and median line, biit witli narrow, freqnently asymmetrical axial area, not costate 

 (except A. groenla.ndiea). Structnre transverse ro-\rs of puncta (except A. groenlandica). Lower 

 valve with straiglit, central median line. Central nodule iisnally stauroid. Central area a trans- 

 verse fascia. Structnre: transverse rows of puncta. Frustule genuflexed, without rim. Connecting 

 zone usually with longitudinal rows of short strige. 



Cell-contents (of A. lanceolata) a single chromatophore-plate along the inside of the upper 

 valve or (as in A. brevlpes) two plates, deeply sinuose in the middle along the inside of the 

 connecting zone. In conjugation one cell {A. brevipes) gives origin according to Luders to one 

 auxospore (Pfitz. Bau und Entw. p. 85). 



This group comprises most of the stipitate species of Achnanthes of authors. They agree 

 in outline with the true Achnanthes, which have an entirely different structnre. Whether the 

 genus formed by me is natural is somewhat doubtful, the cell-contents of A. lanceolata being very 

 similar to those of Cocconeis, and those of A. hrevipes agreeing with those of Navicula. On the 

 other hand A. groenlandica differs in the costate upper valve and is remarkable for the rudimen- 

 tary diaphragms at the ends of the frustule, which point to some afRnity with the Tabellarise 

 {Eniopyla). The exact position of this group in a natural system is impossible to define at present. 



Artificial hey '). 



[ Margin of the upper valve with a horseshoe-shaped mark A. lanceolata Briéb. 



1. j {A. Peragalli Beéb. a. Héeib.). 



I — — — — without — — — 2. 



j, J Margin crenulated A. cremdata Geun. {A. brevipes var. suhcrenulata). 



"' \ — not — 3. 



/ Upper valve with transverse costse A. groenlandica Cl. 



' ( — — — — rows of puncta 4. 



j Axial area of the upper valve central 5. 



\ — — — — — excentric 6. 



p. j Valve linear A. mesogongyla Geun. 



'I — lanceolate A. margaritarum Cl, 



„ j Valve centrally gibbous A. infläta Gedn. 



{' 



not — 7. 



„ I Valve small and constricted A. coarctata Beéb. 



' \ — — — elliptical or large, and constricted, or not A. brevipes Ag. 



1. A. margaritarum Cl. (1893). — V. not arcuate, lanceolate, with slightly protracted 

 ends. L. 0, 05 to 0,06; B. 0, 02 mm. Upper V. with central, narrow axial area. Striee 10 (middle) 

 to 13 (ends) in 0,oi mm. very slightly radiate, composed of distinct puncta, arranged in straight, 

 longitudinal rows, 15 in 0, 01 mm. Lower V. with .straight median line, in distinct, axial and small, 

 orbicular central area. Strise 10 (middle) to 15 (ends) in 0,oi mm. composed of puncta, arranged 

 in straight longitudinal rows, 13 in 0,oi mm. — Diatomiste II p. 57 Pl. III f. 9, 10. 



Marine: Pearl Islands (near Java?)! 



This remarkable species is not akin to any other. The upper valve has some resemblance 

 of Bhaphoneis ampJiiceros. 



2. A. lanceolata Bréb. (1849). — Narrow, elliptic-lanceolate to broadly elliptical, with 

 rounded, obtuse, rarely rostrate, ends. L. 0,oi7 to 0,035; B. 0, 005 to 0,oo8 mm. Upper V. with 



') The incompletely known Ach. beccata Leud. Foetm., A. agglutinata Geun. and Cocconeis perpusilla Pant. not 

 included. 



