Three new Luticola D.G.Mann (Bacillariophyta) species from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) found in terrestrial diatom assemblages dominated by widely distributed taxa

Abstract

Background Rapa Nui (Easter Island = Isla de Pasqua) is of volcanic origin, best known for about 900 man-made stone statues known as moai. It is one of the most isolated inhabited islands on Earth and studies on the diatoms of Rapa Nui are very few. Methods Light (LM) and electron microscopic (SEM) observations of a single sample collected from Rapa Nui are presented. The samples (mix of soil and organic detritus) were collected from ground of cave entrance. Results The samples were characterized by low diatom diversity and strongly dominated by terrestrial (soil) forms. Among the taxa present in the material studied were cosmopolitan forms of the genera Humidophila, Nitzschia, Angusticopula, Orthoseira, Tryblionella and Luticola. Whereas most of taxa of the enumerated genera were identifiable, only one among four Luticola species distinguished in the samples studied was identified. This taxon was L. ectorii, a cosmopolitan species known previously from South America (Brazil) and Asia (China). The three remaining species could not be assigned to any established species. Therefore, based on external and internal morphological features from light and scanning electron microscopic analysis, we describe here three species new to science, including: L. georgzizkae, L. rapanuiensis and L. moaiorum. All three taxa new to science are compared to established Luticola species and their significance for the global distribution of the genus is discussed.

Description of five new Luticola D.G.Mann (Bacillariophyta, Diadesmidaceae) species from Indonesia with comments on the morphological boundaries of the genus

“… Luticola rapanuiensis can be separated from L. bandanensis sp. nov. by its lower striae density (16–19/10 µm vs. 21–23/10 µm), central area that is more rectangular in shape ( Peszek et al 2021 : fig. 3A–P) and the presence of irregular silica ridges on the valve face/mantle junction ( Peszek et al 2021 : fig.…”

Effect of Different Doses of Ash from Biomass Combustion on the Development of Diatom Assemblages on Podzolic Soil under Oilseed Rape Cultivation

“…However, most studies of terrestrial diatoms are focused on areas of Europe and polar regions [23]. Therefore, it can be expected that the real number of terrestrial species is substantially higher, which seems to have been confirmed recently by taxonomic investigations covering both Europe [28][29][30][31] and tropical zones [32][33][34][35][36][37].…”

Luticola tenera sp. nov. (Diadesmidaceae, Naviculales)—A New Diatom from the Soil of the State Nature Reserve “Bastak” (Jewish Autonomous Region, Russia)

“…In total, their monograph contained descriptions of about 200 species. Since then, a number of new species have been attributed to the genus (e.g., [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]). To date, according to the Algaebase (https://www.algaebase.org; accessed on 11 August 2023), the genus Luticola includes 264 species that are widely distributed throughout these regions of the world: Eurasia [18][19][20], Europe [8], South America [11,21], islands in the southern Indian Ocean [9], Africa [17], Madagascar [12], Asia [10,22], and Antarctica [23][24][25].…”