Morphology and ultrastructure of the fossil freshwater diatom Aulacoseira temperei

Abstract

Original material of Melosira temperei Pantocsek from Neogene lacustrine deposits in the Transylvanian Basin, Romania was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy. The taxonomic description and typification are given and based on the materials from Köpecz in the Transylvanian Basin, maintained in the Hustedt collection, Bremerhaven, Germany. According to the valve morphology, it is clear that this taxon belongs to the genus Aulacoseira Thwaites and the combination with that genus is made here. The size variation in three different extinct populations of this diatom from Sofia Basin in Bulgaria, Prespa Basin in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serres Basin in Greece was also analyzed.

Keywords:

• Aulacoseira temperei
• typification
• Neogene – Late Miocene

Acknowledgements

This work has been partly supported by the grant DO 02-139/2008 ‘Diatom Biodiversity on the Balkans – process, pattern and scale’, Bulgarian National Science Foundation, and DAAD grant (Deutcher Akademischer Austauschdienst) – Reference 324.