The freshwater red algal form taxon, Chantransia macrospora Wood, was recently collected at an artificial reservoir pond in Okinawa, Japan. This species is chiefly characterized by a bluish-green thallus and erect filaments irregularly branched with cylindrical to tapered cells and monosporangia on lateral branchlets. Our culture study confirmed that C. macrospora from Okinawa was the 'chantransia' sporophyte of Batrachospermum species. The rbcL sequence of C. macrospora from Okinawa was identical to isolate FG15 of this species from French Guiana in South America. The sporophyte Chantransia macrospora as well as the gametophyte B. macrospora Montagne are distributed in North and South America. However, there have been no records of either C. macrospora or B. macrosporum in Japan or in eastern Asia. Therefore, C. macrospora specimens originally from South America may have been introduced to Okinawa, Japan, through the vector such as ornamental macrophytes.

As observed in many countries, lakes are involved in an important process of colonization by non-indigenous species (NIS

The presence of Didymosphenia geminata (Lyngbye) M. Schmidt (Bacillariophyta) was revealed in the Drava river and in its affluent Rio Sesto, both flowing in the Alto Adige/Sü dtirol region of Italy and belonging to the Danube basin. New data are given on the distribution of the species in the Danube basin.

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