Ultrastructure and distribution of Aulacoseira gessneri

Abstract

Aulacoseira gessneri (Hustedt) Simonsen has been mentioned rarely in the literature and its ultrastructure has not yet been investigated. The species was originally described from an Amazonian river, and its occurrence is still restricted to Brazilian environments. Specimens, found in Pantanal of Mato Grosso eutrophic lakes, were described and illustrated using optical and electron microscopy, and its morphology compared with similar species, A. distans (Ehrenberg) Simonsen and A. muzzanensis (Meister) Krammer. Aulacoseira gessneri presented the following diacritical characteristics: long filaments joined by small connection spines, elongated separation spines, valve mantle ornamented by straight striae composed of areolae usually round, ringleiste poorly developed, and row of sessile rimoportulae near the collum. The species reached high biomass (11–12 mg L⁻¹) both during the high and low water periods in Pantanal lakes.

Keywords:

• Aulacoseira
• Brazil
• freshwater
• plankton
• ultrastructure

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), for doctoral Grant for the first and second authors and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the scientific productivity Grants to the other ones. Also thanks to Electron Microscopical Center of Paraná Federal University for the technical assistance.