A new Aulacoseira species (Bacillariophyta) from Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) and comparison with the type material of Melosira laevis var. fuegiana Frenguelli

Abstract

A new centric diatom belonging to the genus Aulacoseira was found during a survey of the diatom community from peatbogs of Tierra del Fuego (southern Argentina). The present paper describes Aulacoseira frenguelliana sp. nov. based on detailed light and scanning electron microscopy and compares its morphological features with similar species. Aulacoseira frenguelliana is characterized by short chains joined by spatulate spines, one row of marginal areolae, a very narrow ringleist and only one rimoportula. The type material of Melosira laevis var. fuegiana Frenguelli, a species described from Tierra del Fuego showing some morphological resemblance to the new species, was studied using light microscopy to clarify the taxonomic position of this species. A transfer to Aulacoseira is proposed as A. fuegiana (Frenguelli) comb. et stat nov.

Keywords:

• Tierra del Fuego
• Aulacoseira
• peatbogs
• morphology
• centric diatom

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge to Dr Silvia E. Sala and José María Guerrero for their collaboration in finding the type of M. laevis var. fuegiana. Prof. Luc Ector and Dr Václav Houk are thanked for stimulating discussions and help in providing important literature on Aulacoseira. Mrs Myriam de Haan helped with the preparation of the samples. Finally, we thank the Dirección de Recursos Hídricos de la Provincia de Tierra del Fuego and the Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC) for the logistic support during fieldwork.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT) under grant [PICT 2012-0529] and the Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium.