The Search for Species Flocks in Marine Benthic spp. (Diatomeae: Bacillariales). I. Variations on Three Themes, Seventeen New Species.

Exploration of the diversity in the diatom genus across Micronesia revealed several clusters of undescribed species based on variations around several characters. Using ultrastructural data from scanning electron microscopy, we describe seventeen new species in three of these morphological groups. (1) A group with external thickenings includes eight new species with costae and/or bordered areolae on valve face and/or conopea and/or peri-raphe zone, and one with similar areolae but no ornamentation; this group includes the previously described .

Revision of Ardissoneaceae (Bacillariophyta, Mediophyceae) from Micronesian populations, with descriptions of two new genera, and , and new species in , and .

was resurrected from in 1986 and was included as a genus by Round, Crawford and Mann ("The Diatoms") in its own Family and Order. They commented that there might be several genera involved since the type species of the genus possesses a double-walled structure and other taxa placed in have only a single-walled structure. Two other genera of "big sticks," and , were placed in their own Families and Orders but share many characters with Ardissoneaceae, especially growth from a bifacial annulus.

Rimoportula Distribution, Heterovalvy and Heteropolarity in Hyalosira (Bacillariophyta: Rhabdonematales), with Revision of H. hesperia and Two New Species.

The genus Hyalosira Kützing was recently split and emended based on morphology and molecular phylogeny but many uniseriate taxa could not be resolved. All populations examined in that study had one rimoportula on each valve (i.e.

Diatom Genus Hyalosira (Rhabdonematales emend.) and Resolution of its Polyphyly in Grammatophoraceae and Rhabdonemataceae with a New Genus, Placosira, and Five New Hyalosira Species.

Hyalosira gene sequences are divided into two clades within different families. We examined authentic material of Hyalosira (isotype material of H. obtusangula, synonymous with H.

Molecular and Morphological Investigations of the Stauros-bearing, Raphid Pennate Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae): Craspedostauros E.J. Cox, and Staurotropis T.B.B. Paddock, and their Relationship to the Rest of the Mastogloiales.

Several lineages of raphe-bearing diatoms possess a "stauros," which is a transverse, usually thickened area free of pores across the center of the valve. It has been suggested that this structure has evolved several times across the raphid diatoms, but we have noticed similarities beyond the stauros between two marine genera-Craspedostauros and Staurotropis-in the structure of their pore occlusions. We have isolated, cultured and extracted DNA from several strains of both genera to infer the phylogenetic relationship between these taxa, as well as test the suggested relationship of Craspedostauros to Achnanthes and Mastogloia based on plastid morphology.

Ultrastructural and molecular characterization of diversity among small araphid diatoms all lacking rimoportulae. I. Five new genera, eight new species.

Pennate diatoms are important contributors to primary production in freshwater and marine habitats. But the extent of their diversity, ecology, and evolution is still largely unknown. This is particularly evident among the clades of pennate diatoms without raphe slits, whose diversity is likely underestimated due to their small size and features that can be difficult to discern under light microscopy.

Hanicella moenia, gen. et sp. nov., a ribbon-forming diatom (Bacillariophyta) with complex girdle bands, compared to Microtabella interrupta and Rhabdonema cf. adriaticum: implications for Striatellales, Rhabdonematales, and Grammatophoraceae, fam. nov.

Tropical benthic diatoms are poorly known but constitute a rich resource for studies of diatom morphology and phylogeny. A remarkable tabellarioid ribbon-forming diatom with a very distinctive pattern of plastid distribution and unique valve and girdle band characters is described from Guam (Mariana Islands) as a new genus and species, Hanicella moenia. We were able to study the ultrastructure and ontogeny of the girdle bands, to compare several other genera in the Striatellales and the Rhabdonematales with numerous septate copulae and hyaline, nonseptate pleurae, and to evaluate their phylogenetic relationships.

Morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular characterization of Euplotidium rosati n. sp. (Ciliophora, Euplotida) from Guam.

We combined morphological (i.e. live, stained, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy) with morphometric and molecular analysis to describe a ciliate species collected from shallow reefs in Guam, grown, and maintained in our laboratory.

Porpostoma guamensis n. sp., a philasterine scuticociliate associated with brown-band disease of corals.

Brown band disease of coral is caused by a ciliate that consumes the tissue of the corals in the genus Acropora. We describe the ciliate associated with this disease on Guam, based on: general morphology, division stages, and ciliature observed on live and protargol-stained specimens; modification of the oral structures between divisional stages, observed on protargol-stained specimens; and some aspects of behavior in field and laboratory studies. Porpostoma guamensis n.

Freshwater biodiversity of Guam. 1. Introduction, with new records of ciliates and a heliozoan.

Inland waters are the most endangered ecosystems in the world because of complex threats and management problems, yet the freshwater microbial eukaryotes and microinvertebrates are generally not well known and from Guam are virtually unknown. Photodocumentation can provide useful information on such organisms. In this paper we document protists from mostly lentic inland waters of Guam and report twelve freshwater ciliates, especially peritrichs, which are the first records of ciliates from Guam or Micronesia.

Freshwater biodiversity of Guam. 2. First Micronesian record of Plumatella bushnelli Wood, 2001 (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata).

Plumatella bushnelli Wood, 2001 is the first reported freshwater bryozoan for Micronesia, and the Guam collections are only the fourth record of this species in the world. In Guam it normally occurs as small colonies on the undersides of duckweed leaves but formed larger colonies on artificial substrate.

Provisional keys to the genera of seaweeds of Micronesia, with new records for Guam and Yap.

Artificial keys to the genera of blue-green, red, brown, and green marine benthic algae of Micronesia are given, including virtually all the genera reported from Palau, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Twenty-two new species or genera are reported here for Guam and 7 for Yap; 11 of these are also new for Micronesia. Note is made of several recent published records for Guam and 2 species recently raised from varietal status.

Photophysics and multifunctionality of hypericin-like pigments in heterotrich ciliates: a phylogenetic perspective.

In this paper, we review the literature and present some new data to examine the occurrence and photophysics of the diverse hypericin-like chromophores in heterotrichs, the photoresponses of the cells, the various roles of the pigments and the taxa that might be studied to advance our understanding of these pigments. Hypericin-like chromophores are known chemically and spectrally so far only from the stentorids and Fabrea, the latter now seen to be sister to stentorids in the phylogenetic tree. For three hypericin-like pigments, the structures are known but these probably do not account for all the colors seen in stentorids.

Mycosporine-like amino acids in the zooxanthella-ciliate symbiosis Maristentor dinoferus.

Coral reef organisms living in mutualistic symbioses with phototrophic dinoflagellates are widespread in shallow UV-transparent waters. Maristentor dinoferus is a recently discovered species of marine benthic ciliate that hosts symbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium. In this study, we tested this ciliate for the occurrence of mycosporine-like amino acids, a family of secondary metabolites that minimize damage from exposure to solar UV radiation by direct screening.

Maristentorin, a novel pigment from the positively phototactic marine ciliate Maristentor dinoferus, is structurally related to hypericin and stentorin.

The photoreceptor pigment of the heterotrich ciliate, Maristentor dinoferus, has been characterized. It is structurally similar to those of Stentor coeruleus and Blepharisma japonicum but differs significantly in that it bears no aromatic hydrogens. The structure of the pigment, maristentorin, is based upon the hypericin skeleton, and its spectra are nearly identical to those of hypericin but shifted toward the red.

The giant zooxanthellae-bearing ciliate Maristentor dinoferus (Heterotrichea) is closely related to folliculinidae.

The small subunit rDNA sequence of Maristentor dinoferus (Lobban, Schefter, Simpson, Pochon, Pawlowski, and Foissner, 2002) was determined and compared with sequences from other Heterotrichea and Karyorelictea. Maristentor resembles Stentor in basic morphology and had been provisionally assigned to Stentoridae. However, our phylogenetic analyses show that Maristentor is more closely related to Folliculinidae.