Description of four new terrestrial diatom species from Luticola and Microcostatus genera from South Africa

By

Rybak, Mateusz
Kochman-Kędziora, Natalia
Peszek, Łukasz

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

PhytoKeys

Volume

182

Pages

1--26

Subjects

Bacillariophyceae , Bryophytes , Luticola , Microcostatus , new species , South Africa

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers [2010]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.181.65326

 

Abstract

The knowledge about terrestrial diatom assemblages in southern Africa is rather limited, despite a long history of diatom research in this area. Terrestrial habitats are places of characteristic diatom floras, dominated by species resistant to desiccation which are able to thrive in conditions of limited water availability. The presented work expands the knowledge about these unique habitats. During the study on terrestrial moss-inhabiting diatoms from Western Cape Province (South Africa), four taxa with a unique set of valve features have been found and described herein as new species, based on light and scanning electron microscopy. These new species are:Luticola microcephalaM. Rybak, Peszek & Kochman-Kędziora,sp. nov.,Luticola asymmetricaM. Rybak, Kochman-Kędziora & Peszek,sp. nov.,Luticola terrestrisKochman-Kędziora, M. Rybak & Peszek,sp. nov.andMicrocostatus meridionalisPeszek, M. Rybak & Kochman-Kędziora,sp. nov.Algal community composition had low species richness (9–15 taxa per sample) and samples were dominated by:Humidophila contenta,Nitzschia brevissimaand Eunotia aff. pseudominor. The three newLuticolaspecies formed numerous populations, exceeding 10% of the share, whereasMicrocostatus meridionalisreached 5.4%. Basic morphological data of associated diatom flora together with detailed micrographs are also provided.