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Issue: Vol. 489 No. 2: 4 March 2021
Type: Article
Published: 2021-03-04
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.489.2.5
Page range: 171–181
Abstract views: 38
PDF downloaded: 4

A new species of Epithemia Kützing (Bacillariophyceae, Rhopalodiales) from the Mula river, Western Ghats, India, with comments on the phylogenetic position of Rhopalodia and Epithemia

Biodiversity and Palaeobiology, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India-411004 Department of Botany, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra, India-411007
College of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, China
Museum of Natural History and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado-80309, USA
Biodiversity and Palaeobiology, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India-411004 Department of Botany, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra, India-411007
Diatoms Epithemia agharkarii freshwater morphology Rhopalodiales taxonomy Algae

Abstract

A new species, Epithemia agharkarii sp. nov., is described from the Mula River, Western Ghats, India. The new species is described based on light and scanning electron microscopy; it is characterized by having lanceolate to slightly elliptical valves with rounded apices and being 16–38 μm long and 12.5–17.5 μm wide. Based on morphology, especially the atypical position of the raphe, it is similar to E. reicheltii. The new species is differentiated from the latter by the valve outline, shape of the apices, specific position of the raphe and breadth. We discuss the possible phylogenetic position of these two taxa and recent proposals related to the classification of Rhopalodia and Epithemia.