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

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: Luticolamicrocephala M. Rybak, Peszek & Kochman-Kędziora, sp. nov., Luticolaasymmetrica M. Rybak, Kochman-Kędzior

SUBMITTER: Rybak M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8455506 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature