Ana Car

Licmosphenia revisited: transfer to Licmophora, redescription of L. clevei Mereschkowsky and descriptions of three new species

Licmosphenia Mereschkowsky (Licmophorales: Licmophoraceae) is distinguished from Licmophora C. Agardh almost entirely by the presence of an apical window in the septum of the valvocopula. Recently, SEM images of three new species, all with coarse striae, showed that the valve morphology was indistinguishable from a group of Licmophora species including L. ehrenbergii, and gene sequence data showed Licmosphenia sister to the few available Licmophora spp. Two questions remain: (1) what is the structure of Licmosphenia spp. with fine striae? and (2) what would further molecular evidence contribute to understanding whether these genera are distinct or not? New LM and SEM observations on Licmosphenia species and sequence data from additional Licmophora species now answer these questions. Valve ultrastructure of a new, finely striated species with a small apical aperture, from Mallorca, Spain, is similar to finely striated Licmophora species, and the position of Licmosphenia in the phylogenetic tree is now within the Licmophora clade. The presence of apical apertures in two morphological groups of Licmophora suggests that the apical window has arisen at least twice. Licmophora is the older genus name and we therefore formally transfer all Licmosphenia species to it. In addition to Licmophora garyi from Mallorca, we describe a curved species from the Adriatic, Licmophora arcuata, similar to L. grunowii but with much coarser striae, and a species from Guam with a very large apical aperture, L. pisciformis. We also designate an epitype for Licmosphenia clevei Mereschkowsky, the type species of that genus.

Multigene Assessment of Biodiversity of Diatom(Bacillariophyceae) Assemblages from the Littoral Zone of the Bohai and Yellow Seas in Yantai Region of Northeast China with some Remarks on Ubiquitous Taxa

ABSTRACT Witkowski, A.; Li, C. L.; Zg[lstrok]obicka, I.; Yu, S. X.; Ashworth, M.; Dąbek, P.; Qin, S.; Tang, C.; Krzywda, M.; Ruppel, M.; Theriot, E. C.; Jansen, R. K.; Car, A.; Płociński, T.; Wang, Y. C.; Sabir, J. S. M.; Daniszewska-Kowalczyk, G.; Kierzek, A., and Hajrah, N. H., 2016. Multigene assessment of biodiversity of diatom (Bacillariophyceae) assemblages from the littoral zone of the Bohai and Yellow Seas in Yantai region of Northeast China with some remarks on ubiquitous taxa. Diatoms are important contributors to the benthic microeukaryote flora. This manuscript lays the foundation for future metagenomic and environmental sequencing projects off coastal China by curating diatom DNA sequences from the Yantai region of the Bohai and Yellow Seas (Northeast China). These studies are based on cultures established from samples collected in different seasons from marine littoral and supralittoral zones in 2013 and 2014. Thirty-six diatom strains were cultured successfully and identification of these clones was determined by light and scanning electron microscopy(LM and SEM) and DNA sequencing of the nuclear-encoded small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU)and chloroplast-encoded rbcL and psbC genes. The strains primarily represent raphid pennate genera, such as Amphora, Amphora (Oxyamphora), Caloneis, Diploneis, Halamphora, Navicula, Nitzschia, Parlibellus, Pleurosigma, Surirella and Tryblionella. When the DNA markers from these strains were analysed in a multi-gene phylogeny, we found that some clones-particularly within the genera Amphora, Navicula and Nitzschia—show greater than expected genetic diversity despite their very similar morphology and morphometrics. We also compared the molecular and morphological identities of several seemingly ubiquitous marine littoral taxa in the genera Amphora and Nitzschia from the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea and Adriatic Sea to their Yellow Sea counterparts.

Description of a new marine diatom, Cocconeis caulerpacola sp. nov. (Bacillariophyceae), epiphytic on invasive Caulerpa species

A new species of Cocconeis has been found growing on thalli of the invasive green alga Caulerpa taxifolia collected from the Croatian Adriatic Sea (Bay of Stari Grad, the Island of Hvar, Central Adriatic, Croatia), the coasts of the Mediterranean (Saint Raphaël, west of Cannes, France) and the eastern coast of Australia (Moreton Bay, southeast Queensland). Additionally, it was observed on samples of Caulerpa racemosa, another invasive alga in the Mediterranean. Preserved thalli of Caulerpa and cleaned material of the new diatom were studied by light and electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). The morphology and fine structure of the new marine epiphytic diatom, for which we propose the name Cocconeis caulerpacola Witkowski, Car & Dobosz, was determined, including the internal and external structure of the raphe and sternum valve, and the cingulum. Comparison between the new species and three closely related species, C. borbonica, C. diruptoides and C. pseudodiruptoides, was made using material from our samples, as well as material from Vis (Adriatic Sea) obtained from the Hustedt collection. Surprisingly, C. caulerpacola is able to colonize Caulerpa taxifolia in very high abundance, but its occurrence seems to be strongly patchy. Indeed, it seems that C. taxifolia is a suitable host for epiphytic diatoms, in particular this tiny Cocconeis, despite its reputation as a ‘killer seaweed’. Cocconeis caulerpacola was observed on Caulerpa species in varying abundance over a wide geographical range.