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Background and aims - A novel species of Navicula has been recently discovered in rivers of the central Appalachian Mountains, USA. The purpose of this paper is to formally establish this new species and to determine whether it had been overlooked in the past or is a recent arrival to the area. Methods - We studied historical collections made in Pennsylvania, Virginia and adjacent areas since the 1940s and housed at the ANSP Diatom Herbarium. Light and scanning electron microscopy was employed to study the morphology of the new species and similar Navicula taxa, including those commonly reported at the same locations, or originally described from the rivers of the eastern United States, such as N. radiosafallax, initially established as N. radiosa var. parva by J.H. Wallace. Key results - The new species has an unusual shape of the external raphe slit, which is undulate toward the proximal ends. This character was so far found in a single other Navicula species known only from Europe. Examination of historical materials confirmed that N. eileeniae was absent from collections made in the eastern United States before 2007, but has become progressively more common and abundant in the last decade. The prevalence of this species in streams of low to moderate mineral and nutrient content suggests that its recent expansion cannot be explained by pollution. Climate change is also unlikely to have caused the northward expansion of N. eileeniae, as it has never been recorded south from central Appalachia. Conclusions - The results of this study confirm that a population of previously unknown Navicula species has been expanding in Central Appalachia and suggest that rapid shifts of distributional ranges not readily explainable by environmental changes may occur in protists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three rare Psammothidium species were found in recently surveyed lakes of Northeastern Siberia, Russia. One of these species found in lakes of the Kolyma Lowland, is new for science and is formally described here as Psammothidium onufrii sp. nov. It is morphologically similar to the brackish–water species Achnanthes punctulata, but it lacks a central area on rapheless valve and possesses a large central area on the raphe valve. Psammothidium onufrii is characteristic for tundra thermokarst lakes with moderate mineral content. Psammothidium sacculum previously reported from a few subarctic and arctic locations was found in several lakes of the Kolyma Lowland and of the Magadan District. The frustule ultrastructure of this species is documented for the first time here. The third species, known as Achnanthes obliqua (W. Gregory) Hustedt and transferred here to Psammothidium, is a morphologically distinct and relatively rare diatom occasionally reported from northern regions of Eurasia and Western North America. In Northeastern Siberia it was found in sediments of relatively large shallow lakes with low to moderate mineral content. Detailed morphological characterization of the three Psammothidium species will facilitate their detection in environmental surveys and their use in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species ofGomphonemawith linear-lanceolate valves, narrow cells (width ≤6 µm), wide axial areas, short uniseriate striae, and one stigmoid per valve are described.Gomphonema caperatumsp. nov. has narrow, almost linear valves with short marginal striae, apically elongated slit-like areolae, and transapically oriented linear markings on the external valve surface, which are only observable under scanning electron microscopy. This is a common and often abundant species in rivers across Eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian region, but is also found on the West Coast.Gomphonema obstipumsp. nov. has lanceolate valves with bent apices, variously shaped apically elongated areolae, and shallow circular depressions on the external valve surface. This species has only been found in two Virginian rivers. We compare the new taxa with several species ofGomphonemafrom North American rivers that are morphologically similar, such asGomphonema amerhombicumReichardt,Gomphonema stoermeriKociolek & Kingston, and other species with linear-lanceolate valves and wide axial areas. In addition, we report here for the first time the occurrence ofGomphonema incognitumin North America. This study underscores the insufficiency of our knowledge of diatom diversity in North America and the need for more detailed taxonomic investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new small-size species of Sellaphora was found in sediments from Hannaberry Lake, Arkansas, during the National Lakes Assessment project conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The species was studied with light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It differs from previously reported Sellaphora species by its small and delicate frustule with striation irresolvable in light microscopy. Here we present details on its morphology and size variation and report the characteristics of the lake where the species was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation of frustular morphology within the Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kütz.) Czarn. species complex was studied in type populations of 12 described taxa and in 30 recent North American river samples. The SEM observations in this study and other publications showed that ultrastructural characters on their own do not discriminate among taxa within the A. minutissimum complex. Therefore, an attempt was made to use other characters, such as valve shape and striation pattern, to delineate morphological groups. The sliding-landmarks method was used to obtain valve-shape descriptors. These shape variables were combined with conventional morphological characters in multivariate analyses. It was shown that some historically recognized taxa are morphologically distinct, while others are difficult to differentiate. Morphological grouping of “old” taxa most similar to A. minutissimum did not correspond to their taxonomic hierarchy in contemporary diatom floras. Morphometric analysis of a data set of 728 specimens from North American rivers revealed six morphological groups, although it was impossible to draw clear boundaries among them. These morphological groups differed significantly in their ecological characteristics and could be recommended as indicators of water quality. Application of the discriminant function analysis based on shape variables and striation pattern showed that North American specimens could be more consistently classified into the six groups identified in our analysis than into historically recognized taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation of frustular morphology within the Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kütz.) Czarn. species complex was studied in type populations of 12 described taxa and in 30 recent North American river samples. The SEM observations in this study and other publications showed that ultrastructural characters on their own do not discriminate among taxa within the A. minutissimum complex. Therefore, an attempt was made to use other characters, such as valve shape and striation pattern, to delineate morphological groups. The sliding-landmarks method was used to obtain valve-shape descriptors. These shape variables were combined with conventional morphological characters in multivariate analyses. It was shown that some historically recognized taxa are morphologically distinct, while others are difficult to differentiate. Morphological grouping of “old” taxa most similar to A. minutissimum did not correspond to their taxonomic hierarchy in contemporary diatom floras. Morphometric analysis of a data set of 728 specimens from North American rivers revealed six morphological groups, although it was impossible to draw clear boundaries among them. These morphological groups differed significantly in their ecological characteristics and could be recommended as indicators of water quality. Application of the discriminant function analysis based on shape variables and striation pattern showed that North American specimens could be more consistently classified into the six groups identified in our analysis than into historically recognized taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]