Benthic marine diatom flora of Guam: new records, redescription of Psammodictyon pustulatum n. comb., n. stat., and three new species (Colliculoamphora gabgabensis, Lauderia excentrica, and Rhoiconeis pagoensis)
Author
Lobban, Christopher S.
Division of Natural Sciences, University of Guam, Mangilao, GU 83823, USA e-mail: clobban @ guam. net
clobban@guam.net
text
Micronesica
2015
2015
2
1
49
journal article
299054
10.5281/zenodo.12117576
9ec266f5-1dc7-4272-9fbc-67c7f2b0f5aa
0026-279X
12117576
Psammodictyon pustulatum
(Voigt ex Meister) Lobban
,
n. comb., n. stat.
Figs 118–128
Basionym:
Nitzschia panduriformis
var.
pustulata
Voigt ex
Meister 1937
, Berichte der Schweizerischen Botanischen Gesellschaft 47: 270, pl. 11, fig. 9.
Samples:
GU66A-1, GU66A-3, GU66F-2, GU66F-7A; GU52Q-10
Dimensions: Length 22–33 µm, width 13–17 µm; striae
20–24 in
10 µm, fibulae ca.
14 in
10 µm.
Diagnostics: Differs from all other species of
Psammodictyon
in the presence of a pair of rounded elevations on the distal side of the sternum.
Description: Valves panduriform, highly sculptured, with a pair of rounded elevations on the distal side of the sternum and a pair of shallow depressions on the proximal side. Valves apiculate and loculate; areolae in quincunx arrangement, the striae interrupted by a hyaline sternum near the mid line (
Figs 123, 124
). (The part next to the raphe is considered proximal, and the side toward the mantle where the elevations occur is distal.) The raphe system is submarginal, dividing the valve into a wide ventral portion and a narrow dorsal band; pores on the dorsal portion consist of a longitudinal row of transapical slits (
Figs 127, 128
: arrows). The dorsal part of the valvocopula has a repand
ab
valvar edge (
Figs 124, 125
). The distal part of the ventral valve face bears two rounded elevations; the proximal portion slopes down from the raphe-keel to the sternum in two shallow depressions (
Figs 125, 126
,
128
). Loculae are evident on the elevations (
Figs 125, 126
) but also can be seen on the proximal side of the sternum (
Fig. 125
). Girdle bands lack pores, except for a single longitudinal row on the first pleura (
Fig. 125
: arrow). The valvocopula delimits the ventral margin of the valve with a repand rim and there is a single row of pores at its base on the valve side (
Figs 125, 126
); however, along the dorsal portion of the valvocopula, the opposite edge is repand (
Figs 124, 125
).
Comments: The loculate structure places this taxon in
Psammodictyon
rather than
Nitzschia
or
Tryblionella
; the character combinations distinguishing these genera are described by
Round et al. (1990)
. However, the valve face is sharply delimited by a vertical rim, which appears to be formed by the valvocopula, rather than merging imperceptibly into a shallow mantle on the ventral side, as described by
Round et al. (1990)
for
Psammodictyon
. The possibility that this rim is simply due to collapse of the frustule during preparation is unlikely because of the consistency of its appearance in the
SEM
images and the way it goes down under the dorsal margin (
Figs 127, 128
).
I examined Meister’s slide 3509092, and found
one specimen
—apparently not the
type
he photographed, however, since it is partially overlain by another diatom (
Fig. 121
).
Although
Meister (1937)
in the same paper also named
Nitzschia pustulata
, this is entirely different and certainly not a
Psammodictyon
, so I am confident there will be no future confusion from using
pustulatum
as the epithet in this new combination.
Specimens labeled as
N. panduriforme var. pustulata
occur on two slides in the Hustedt collection (ZT2/46 and W1/18), kindly photographed by Friedel Hinz (one shown in
Fig. 122
), are identical to my specimens; a similar specimen is illustrated in
Stidolph et al. (2012
, pl. 25, fig. 83). The known geographic range of
P. pustulatum
is thus
Nagasaki
(
Japan
),
Guam
,
Singapore
, Galapagos, and Vera Cruz (
Mexico
).
The size and outline of
P. pustulatum
are similar to
P. constrictum
in our flora, but the areolae, with single pores on both sides, are like those in
P. panduriforme
,
unlike those in
P. constrictum
,
where there are complex external openings and clusters of 3–4 interior pores. Further differences in
P. constrictum
are that the areolae on the dorsal side of the raphe-keel are also large, and the pleura has transapical striae all along it (
Lobban et al. 2012
, pl. 59, figs 7, 8).