Nitzschia martiana (C.A. Agardh) Van Heurck (Bacillariophyceae): distribution modelling and new records along the Brazilian coast

Abstract

Benthic diatoms that produce and live inside mucilage tubes are prominent pioneer colonizers of marine substrata. This adaptation is an ecological strategy related to mechanical protection against wave action and desiccation. In this article, we identify Nitzschia martiana based on morphological and ultrastructural analyses from several samples, collected from different localities. We also analysed the potential distribution model of the species to identify potential areas along the Brazilian coast with high environmental suitability for its occurrence. The distribution modelling, associated with our wide sampling, allowed us to present a robust characterization of the distribution of N. martiana along the Brazilian coast. Previous records were restricted to the coast of the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Pernambuco. Our results confirmed the occurrence of the species in 14 new localities, over a temperature range of 18–27°C, always occurring as macroscopic tufts, in regions exposed to direct sunlight during low tide periods, on sand, coral reefs and rocks.

Keywords:

• benthic diatoms
• geographical distribution
• microphytobenthos
• mucilaginous tubes
• predictive model

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Center of Microscopic Studies of Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Helen Michelle de Jesus Affe http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0230-3764

Diogo Souza Bezerra Rocha http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2913-4072

Taiara Aguiar Caires http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1422-3702

Priscila Barreto de Jesus http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6072-1422

Valter Loureiro de Araujo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2433-5887

Luciano Felício Fernandes http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8650-5429

José Marcos de Castro Nunes http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7142-5995

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB, No. RED0006/2012) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, UNIVERSAL 477614/2013–2). HMJA acknowledges Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES – Finance Code 001) by his Doctoral Scholarship. JMCN acknowledges CNPq for his personal grant (Scholarship for Productivity in Research, 307368/2015-7).