Gomphonemopsis ligowskii, a new diatom (Bacillariophyceae) from the marine Antarctic and a comparison to other Gomphonemopsis

Abstract

A new marine diatom, Gomphonemopsis ligowskii, is described. Gomphonemopsis ligowskii was found as an epiphyte on the brown macrophyte, Desmarestia anceps, collected from King George Island, Antarctica in January 2016. This species is the first of the genus described from a polar region. It is a small and relatively rare taxon that is characterized by its unique shape and the presence of uniseriate striae, composed of round poroidal areolae on its valve face. The striae are arranged in parallel rows on either side of the axial area, and a row of rounded areolae on both sides of the valve mantle is confined to the wider part of the valve (headpole). A description of valve ultrastructure as well as a comparison with related taxa are provided.

Keywords:

• Gomphonemopsis
• diatom
• Antarctica
• new species
• epiphyte

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Mr. Kim Govers and Miss Juliane Bettig of the Botanical Museum, Berlin for their help with SEM observations. Thanks are due to Mr. Mikael Hedblom, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Gothenburg University for transporting the samples from Antarctica. We are also grateful to Dr. Eileen Cox and the reviewers for thoughtful and critical comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research received support from the SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info/, financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 ‘Capacities’ Program.