New insights into the morphology, taxonomy and geographical distribution of Pleurotaenium subcoronulatum (Zygnematophyceae, Desmidiales) Author Levanets, Anatoliy 0000-0002-6665-1290 Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa 20868421@nwu.ac.za Author Vuuren, Sanet Janse Van 0000-0001-5361-9905 Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa sanet.jansevanvuuren@nwu.ac.za text Phytotaxa 2024 2024-06-25 655 2 144 158 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.655.2.3 journal article 10.11646/phytotaxa.655.2.3 1179-3163 13212948 5. Pleurotaenium subcoronulatum var. africanum (Schmidle) Willi Krieger 1937: 423 , pl. 46: fig. 8 Basionym: Pleurotaenium cristatum f. africanum Schmidle 1902: 66 , pl. I [1]: fig. 17 (as “ africana ”) Type locality: Nyassa Lake, from a quiet bay of the Mbasi River, covered with water nuts, near its confluence with the Nyassa, April 27, 1899 [now Tanzania ]. Description: The cell dimensions are slightly smaller compared to the type and the cells are attached in chains ( Fig 4D ). Cells are 400 µm in length, with both the apices and the basal swelling 24 µm wide. The rest of the semicell is 20 µm wide ( Schmidle 1902 ). The cell wall is punctated to granulated. The margins of the cell wall are parallel, narrowing towards the crown of tubercles. Distribution: North America: USA ( Prescott et al. 1975 ; Dillard 1990 ). South America: Venezuela ( Salazar & Guarrera 2000 ). Africa: Côte d’Ivoire ( Bourrelly 1961 ), Democratic Republic of Congo ( Van Oye 1953 ), Guinea-Bissau ( Rino 1969 ), Mozambique ( Rino 1971 ), Nigeria ( Opute 2000 ; Kadiri 2002 ; Ekhator et al. 2013 , 2014 ; Ekhator & Alika 2016 ); South Sudan ( Grönblad et al. 1958 ), Sudan ( Smith 2015 ), Tanzania ( Schmidle 1902 ), Uganda ( Grönblad et al. 1964 ). Lakes on borders of African countries : Lake Nyasa/ Malawi ( Cocquyt et al. 1993 ). Asia: Bangladesh ( Ahmed et al. 2008 ), India ( Tessy & Sreekumar 2011 ; Gupta 2012 ; Boruah & Baruah 2024 ), Japan ( Hirano 1956 ; Kanetsuna 1967 ; Hirose et al. 1977 ). Australia and New Zealand : Australia (as Pleurotaeniopsis subcoronulata var. africana (Schmidle) Willi Krieger ) ( Day et al. 1995 ).