Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 661 No. 2: 30 Jul. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-07-30
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.661.2.6
Page range: 189-196
Abstract views: 63
PDF downloaded: 5

What is Iconella (Bacillariophyta)? The poverty of molecular monophyly (Part II)

The Natural History Museum, London, UK
Iconella taxonomic theory Algae

Abstract

In 2020 I gave a talk to my colleagues in the Natural History Museum, London with the title ‘Taxonomy: Who are these Performing Monkeys?’ The title is derived from a paper by Arthur Cain (1921-1999), ecologist, evolutionary biologist and malacologist, published in 1959 but presented a year earlier, on the 15th July 1958, at the Royal Geographical Society to commemorate the bi-centenary of Linnaeus’s Systema Naturae: ‘Is it not extraordinary that young taxonomists are trained like performing monkeys, almost wholly by imitation, and that in only the rarest cases are they given any instruction in taxonomic theory?’ (Cain 1959, p. 243). Cain concluded his presentation with the following remarks:

References

  1. Bukhtiyarova, I.N. (2021) Bacillariophyta of the Yavorivsky National Park, Broadleaf Forest Zone of Ukraine, including Caloneis albus-columba, sp. nov. Biosystems Diversity 29: 185–194. https://doi.org/10.15421/012123
  2. Cain, A.J. (1953) Geography, ecology and coexistence in relation to the biological definition of the species. Evolution 7 (1): 76–83. https://doi.org/10.2307/2405573
  3. Cain, A.J. (1954) Animal Species and their Evolution. London. Hutchinson, 210 pp.
  4. Cain, A.J. (1958) Logic and memory in Linnaeus’s system of taxonomy. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 169: 125–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1958.tb00819.x
  5. Cain, A.J. (1959) The post-Linnaean development of taxonomy. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 170: 234–244. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1959.tb00857.x
  6. Cain, A.J. (1967) One phylogenetic system [Phylogenetic Systematics. By Willi Hennig. Translated by D. Dwight Davis and Rainer Zangerl. Pp. 263. (Urbana, Ill., and London: University of Illinois Press, 1966.) 93s]. Nature 216: 412–413. https://doi.org/10.1038/216412a0
  7. Cain, A.J. (1995) Linnaeus’s natural and artificial arrangements of plants. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 117 (2): 73–133. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.1995.tb00447.x
  8. Cain, A.J. & Harrison, G.A. (1958) An analysis of the taxonomist’s judgement of affinity. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London 131: 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00634.x
  9. Cain, A.J. & Harrison, G.A. (1960) Phyletic weighting. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London 135: 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1960.tb05828.x
  10. Clarke, B. (1999) Arthur James Cain (1921–99). Nature 401: 872. https://doi.org/10.1038/44749
  11. Cocquyt, C. & Van de Vijver, B. (2018) The transfer of Surirella kerguelensis to Iconella (Bacillariophyceae). Notulae Algarum 57: 1–2.
  12. Dayrat, B. (2005) Towards integrative taxonomy. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 85: 407–415. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00503.x
  13. Denys, L. (2024) Transfer of two soft-water Surirella species to Iconella (Surirellaceae, Bacillariophyceae). Notulae Algarum 331: 1–3.
  14. Dermastia, T.T., Cerino, F., Stanković, D., Francé, J., Ramšak, A., Tušek, M.Z., Beran, A., Natali, V., Cabrini, M. & Mozetič, P. (2020) Ecological time series and integrative taxonomy unveil seasonality and diversity of the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia H. Peragallo in the northern Adriatic Sea. Harmful Algae 93: 101773, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2020.101773
  15. Hilton, E. & Forey, P.L. (2005) Contributions of Walter George Ridewood to systematic comparative anatomy, especially of the osteology of “lower” vertebrates. Journal of Natural History 39: 641–655. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930400001475
  16. Hofmann, G., Werum, M. & Lange-Bertalot, H. (2011) Diatomeen im Süßwasser-Benthos von Mitteleuropa. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein, 908 pp.
  17. Hofmann, G., Werum, M. & Lange-Bertalot, H. (2013) Diatomeen im Süßwasser-Benthos von Mitteleuropa. 2nd corrected edition. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein, 908 pp.
  18. Jahn, R., Kusber, W.-H. & Cocquyt, C. (2017) Differentiating Iconella from Surirella (Bacillariophyceae): typifying four Ehrenberg names and a preliminary checklist of the African taxa. PhytoKeys 82: 73–112. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.82.13542
  19. Jahn, R., Abarca, N., Kusber, W.-H., Skibbe, O., Zimmermann, J. & Mora, D. (2020) Integrative taxonomic description of two new species of the Cocconeis placentula group (Bacillariophyceae) from Korea based on unialgal strains. Algae 35: 303–324. https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2020.35.8.1
  20. Jensen, R.J. (1993) The 25th International Numerical Taxonomy Conference. Systematic Biology 42: 599–601. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/42.4.599
  21. Jerkovic, L. (1972) L’ultrastructure des frustules de quelques especes endemiques des diatomees de la Yougoslavie. Archive für Hydrobiologia, suppl. (Algological Studies 6) 41 (1): 1–10.
  22. Jurilj, A. (1949) Nove Dijatomeje-Surirellaceae-iz Ohridskog Jezera i njihovo filogenetsko znacenje. (New Diatoms-Surirellaceae- of Ochrida Lake in Yugoslavia and their phylogenetic significance). Jugoslavenska Akademija Znanosti i Umjetnosti, Zagreb (Prirodoslovna istraživanja Hrvatske i Slavonije) 24: 171–259.
  23. Jurilj, A. (1954) Flora i vegetacija Dijatomeja Ohridskog Jezera. (Flora and vegetation of Diatoms from Ochrida Lake in Yugoslavia). Jugoslavenska Akademija Znanosti i Umjetnosti, Zagreb (Prirodoslovna istraživanja Hrvatske i Slavonije) 26: 99–190.
  24. Kapustin, D. & Kulikovskiy, M. (2018) Transfer of Stenopterobia and Surirella taxa (Bacillariophyceae) described from the insular Southeast Asia to the genus Iconella. Nova Hedwigia, Beiheft 147: 237–245. https://doi.org/10.1127/nova-suppl/2018/019
  25. Kollár, J. (2020) Polyphasic approach to the study of diatom diversity (Doctoral Thesis). Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, 145 pp.
  26. Kollár, J., Pinseel, E., Vanormelingen, P., Poulíčková, A., Souffreau, C., Dvořák, P. & Vyverman, W. (2019) A polyphasic approach to the delimitation of diatom species: a case study for the genus Pinnularia (Bacillariophyta). Journal of Phycology 55: 365–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.12825
  27. Krammer, K. & Lange-Bertalot, H. (1987) Morphology and taxonomy of Surirella ovalis and related taxa. Diatom Research 2 (1): 77–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.1987.9704986
  28. Krammer, K. & Lange-Bertalot, H. (1988) Bacillariophyceae, 2. Teil: Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae. In: Ettl, H., Gerloff, J., Heynig, H. & Mollenhauer, D. (Eds.) Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Band 2/2. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, Jena, 596 pp.
  29. Kryvosheia, O.N. & Kapustin, D.A. (2019) Species diversity of Bacillariophyta in the Nyzhniosulsky National Nature Park (Ukraine). Algologia 29: 298–321. https://doi.org/10.15407/alg29.03.298
  30. Kusber, W.-H., Rolfing, J.B., Abarca, N. & Jahn, R. (2024) Why Surirella amphioxys is not an Iconella (Bacillariophyceae). Phytotaxa 644 (4): 297–300. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.644.4.6
  31. Lange-Bertalot, H. & Krammer, K. (1987) Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae. Neue und wenig bekannte Taxa, neue Kombinationen und Synonyme sowie Bemerkungen und Ergänzungen zu den Naviculaceae. Bibliotheca Diatomologica 15: 1–289.
  32. Lange-Bertalot, H., Hofmann, G., Werum, M. & Cantonati, M. (2017) Freshwater benthic diatoms of Central Europe: over 800 common species used in ecological assessments. English edition with updated taxonomy and added species. Koeltz Botanical Books, Schmitten-Oberreifenberg, 942 pp.
  33. Levkov, Z. & Williams, DM. (2012) Checklist of diatom (Bacillariophyta) from Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa (Macedonia), and their watersheds. Phytotaxa 45: 1–76. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.45.1.1
  34. Mohamad, H., Mora, D., Skibbe, O., Abarca, N., Deutschmeyer, V., Enke, N., Kusber, W.-H., Zimmermann, J. & Jahn, R. (2022) Morphological variability and genetic marker stability of 16 monoclonal pennate diatom strains under medium-term culture. Diatom Research 37: 307–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.2022.2141346
  35. Nelson, G.J. & Platnick, N.I. (1981) Systematics and biogeography: cladistics and vicariance. Columbia University Press, New York, 582 pp.
  36. Patterson, C., Williams, D.M. & Humphries, C.J. (1993) Congruence between molecular and morphological phylogenies. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 24: 153–188. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.24.110193.001101
  37. Pérez-Burillo, J., Trobajo, R., Vasselon, V., Rimet, F., Bouchez, A. & Mann, D.G. (2020) Evaluation and sensitivity analysis of diatom DNA metabarcoding for WFD bioassessment of Mediterranean rivers. Science of the Total Environment 727: 138445 https://doi.org/10.1016/
  38. Ross, H.H. (1964) Review of: Principles of Numerical Taxonomy. Systematic Zoology 13: 106–108. https://doi.org/10.2307/sysbio/13.1-4.106
  39. Ruck, E.C. & Kociolek, P. (2004) Preliminary phylogeny of the family Surirellaceae-(Bacillariophyta). Bibliotheca Diatomologica, J. Cramer, Berlin, Stuttgart, 236 pp.
  40. Ruck, E.C., Nakov, T., Alverson, A.J. & Theriot, E.C. (2016a) Phylogeny, ecology, morphological evolution, and reclassification of the diatom orders Surirellales and Rhopalodiales. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 103: 155–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.07.023
  41. Ruck, E.C., Nakov, T., Alverson, A.J. & Theriot, E.C. (2016b) Nomenclatural transfers associated with the phylogenetic reclassification of the Surirellales and Rhopalodiales. Notulae Algarum 10: 1–4.
  42. Simonsen, R. (1987) Atlas and Catalogue of the Diatom Types of Friedrich Hustedt. J. Cramer, Berlin & Stuttgart, 1741 pp.
  43. Smith, W. (1856) A synopsis of the British Diatomaceae. Volume II. John van Voorst, Paternoster Row, London, xxix, 1107 pp., pls 32–60, 61–62, A–E.
  44. Sokal, R.R. & Sneath, P.H.A. (1963) Principles of Numerical Taxonomy. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco, 359 pp.
  45. Tsarenko, P.M., Wasser, S.P. & Nevo, E. (2009) Algae of Ukraine: diversity, nomenclature, taxonomy, ecology and geography. Volume 2. Bacillariophyta. A.R.A. Gantner Verlag, Ruggell, 413 pp.
  46. Unzicker, J.D. & Wallace, B.C. (1979) Herbert Holdsworth Ross 1908–1978. Journal of Economic Entomology 72: 309–310. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/72.2.309
  47. Valdecasas, A.G., Williams, D.M. & Wheeler, Q.D. (2007) ‘Integrative taxonomy’ then and now: a response to Dayrat (2005). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 93: 211–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00919.x
  48. West, G.S. (1907) Report on the freshwater algae, including phytoplankton of the Third Tanganyika Expedition, conducted by Dr. W.A. Cunnington 1904–1905. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany 38: 81–197. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.1907.tb00848.x
  49. Williams, D.M. (2007) Classification and diatom systematics: The past, the present and the future. In: Brodie, J. & Lewis, J. (Eds.) Unravelling the Algae. CRC Press, USA, pp. 57–91. [http://www.crcnetbase.com/doi/pdf/10.1201/9780849379901.ch4]
  50. Williams, D.M. (2020) Diatom classifications: What purpose do they serve? In: Cristóbal, G., Blanco, S. & Bueno, G. (Eds.) Modern Trends in Diatom Identification. Fundamentals and Applications. Springer, USA, pp. 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39212-3_2
  51. Williams, D.M. (2024) Notes on the diatom collection of the Natural History Museum, London (BM) IX: Campylodiscus hardmanianus, with a discussion on synapomorphy and the poverty of molecular monophyly. Phytotaxa 629 (1): 53–64. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.629.1.4
  52. Williams, D.M. & Ebach, M.C. (2008) The Foundations of Systematics & Biogeography. Springer, USA, 328 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-72730-1
  53. Williams, D.M. & Ebach, M.C. (2012) “Phenetics” and its application. Cladistics 28: 229–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00383.x
  54. Williams, D.M. & Ebach, M.C. (2020) Cladistics: A Guide to Biological Classification. (3rd edition of Cladistics: A Practical Manual). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 440 pp. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139047678
  55. Williams, D.M., Ebach, M.C. & Wheeler, Q.D. (2010) Beyond belief: the steady resurrection of phenetics. In: Williams, D.M., Knapp, S. (Eds.) Beyond Cladistics: The Branching of a Paradigm. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 169–197. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520267725.003.0010
  56. Williams, D.M. & Kociolek, J.P. (2011) An overview of diatom classification with some prospects for the future. In: Seckbach, J. & Kociolek, J.P. (Eds.) The Diatom World (Series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, Vol. 19), Springer, USA, pp. 47–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1327-7_3
  57. Winsor, M.P. (2001) Cain on Linnaeus: the scientist-historian as unanalysed entity. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 32: 239–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-8486(01)00010-3
  58. Winsor, M.P. (2003) Non-essentialist methods in pre-Darwinian taxonomy. Biology & Philosophy 18: 387–400. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024139523966
  59. Winsor, M.P. (2006a) Linnaeus’s biology was not essentialist. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 93: 2–7. https://doi.org/10.3417/0026-6493(2006)93[2:LBWNE]2.0.CO;2
  60. Winsor, M.P. (2006b) The creation of the essentialism story: An exercise in metahistory. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 28: 149–174. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/23333982]
  61. Yılmaz, E., Mann, D.G., Gastineau, R., Trobajo, R., Solak, C.N., Górecka, E., Turmel, M., Lemieux, C, Ertorun, N. & Witkowski, A. (2024) Description of Navicula vanseea sp. nov. (Naviculales, Naviculaceae), a new species of diatom from the highly alkaline Lake Van (Republic of Türkiye) with complete characterisation of its organellar genomes and multigene phylogeny. PhytoKeys 241: 27–48. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.241.118903