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Morphological study of the marine planktonic diatom Chaetoceros okamurai (Chaetocerotales, Bacillariophyceae) from the Gulf of Mexico
Author(s) -
HernándezBecerril David U.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1835.1998.tb00091.x
Subject(s) - chaetoceros , biology , diatom , plankton , oceanography , phytoplankton , subgenus , ecology , taxonomy (biology) , geology , nutrient
SUMMARY Despite the numerous works on phytoplankton in the Gulf of Mexico, there are new records of species made continually, especially diatoms and dinoflagellates in this area. The presence of the planktonic diatom Chaetoceros okamurai Ikari, originally described by Ikari in 1928 from Japanese Pacific waters, is reported from the Gulf of Mexico, This species appeared occasionally in net samples from the southern Gulf of Mexico, Its morphology was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Some morphological characteristics are useful to distinguish C. okamurai trom closely related species: the form of the chains (slightly twisted and heteropolar); the shape of the aperture (typically rhombical); and the shape of the valves. A single rimoportula, centrally placed, is present in every valve of the chain, Chaetoceros okamurai belongs to the subgenus Chaetoceros (Phaeoceros ) and the section Borealia, and seems to be closely related to the species Chaetoceros borealis Bailey, Chaetoceros densus Cleve, Chaetoceros eibeniiGrunow and Chaetoceros octagonus Hernández‐Becerril. This is the first record of C. okamurai since its original description, and a new record in the Gulf of Mexico (Atlantic Ocean). The distribution of the species is poorly known, but apparently it is a tropical to subtropical form.