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Abstract
During a survey of the diatom community associated with coral reefs at Tahiti Island, Society Archipelago, South Pacific, two species belonging to Astartiella Witkowski, Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin, including A. societatis Riaux-Gobin, Witkowski & Romero sp. nov. a species morphologically similar to A. bremeyeri (Lange-Bertalot) Witkowski & Lange-Bertalot, were found from the teguments of a large Holothuria atra Jaeger (Echinodermata). The second species, A. punctifera (Hustedt) Witkowski & Lange-Bertalot, occurred on nearby marine sediments. These species were compared with other Astartiella taxa recorded at similar latitudes in the Indian Ocean, namely Juan de Nova, Scattered Islands and Mascarene Archipelago. Nomenclatural issues along with the proposed transfer of Achnanthes heterostriata Hustedt to Astartiella are discussed.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Dimitri Gorand (C2M, University of Perpignan) for SEM assistance, Louise Oriol (Banyuls-sur-Mer Oceanological Observatory) for the nutrient data, Pierre Compère (National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Meise) for the revision of the Latin diagnosis, Kevin McCartney (University of Maine) and Suzie Mills (USR 3278 CRIOBE EPHE-CNRS) for English revisions. Marina Potapova, Michel Poulin and two anonymous reviewers greatly improved the manuscript. We also thank Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF) who allowed the participation of C R-G and AW on the EPARSES 2009 expedition. USR 3278 CRIOBE EPHE-CNRS is acknowledged for funding diatom studies at Tahiti Island. The Polish Ministry of Science & Higher Education provided funds through grant NN 306 4 68538 and OER was partially funded by the Spanish Council of Research (CSIC). This work has been presented at the 22nd International Diatom Symposium in Ghent, Belgium in August 2012.