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Transfer of the Antarctic diatom Nitzschia barbieri (Bacillariophyta) to the genus Fragilariopsis and emended descriptions of F. barbieri comb. nov. and F. peragallii

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Abstract

Fragilariopsis is a marine diatom genus that has a critical ecological role in Antarctic waters due to its high abundance and ubiquity in plankton and sea ice. Several species of Fragilariopsis are used extensively in paleoceanography due to their good preservation in marine sediments. Detailed morphological studies on Fragilariopsis species from Antarctic water and ice samples were thus performed. Nevertheless, some species of this genus still remain poorly studied. Based on close morphological similarity between the valve structure of the Antarctic diatom Nitzschia barbieri and the genus Fragilariopsis, we propose transferring N. barbieri to Fragilariopsis as Fragilariopsis barbieri comb. nov. The description of the two rarely reported species, F. barbieri and F. peragallii, were emended. The girdle structure and the formation of doublets in F. barbieri and F. peragallii are described and illustrated for the first time. The analyses were carried out by light and electron microscopy and complete the morphological description of the fourteen known extant taxa of Fragilariopsis from Antarctica. Relative abundance of Fragilariopsis species from sea ice is also presented.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Patricia Sarmiento and Mr. Mauricio Luquet for their excellent technical assistance with SEM work in the EM Service, Museo de La Plata, Argentina, and in Aluar Aluminio Argentino SAIC, Argentina, respectively. We thank MSc Luc Ector for providing pertinent bibliographic references for this work. We also thank the logistical support of Carlini Station, Instituto Antártico Argentino/Dirección Nacional del Antártico during the summer Antarctic expedition CAV 2016/17 and the financial support by ANPCyT-DNA (PICTO 2010-0116 and PICT 2017-2691). MV acknowledges support from the US National Science Foundation Fjord Eco project (PLR -1443705), the students and co-Principal Investigators involved in the sampling, the captain and crew of R/V Lawrence M. Gould and RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer and United States Antarctic Program contractors.

Funding

This study was carried out within the frame of different projects: Project “Cooperation Program between France and ARGentina for the study of the AUstral Atlantic Ocean” (expedition “ARGAU I”); Project “Free-drifting Icebergs as Proliferating Dispersion Sites of Iron Enrichment, Organic Carbon Production and Export in the Southern Ocean” (expedition “Iceberg II”); Project “Fjord ecosystem structure and function on the West Antarctic Peninsula—Hotspots of productivity and biodiversity?” (expedition “LMG 15-10”); Project “Effects of global change on marine benthic algal communities at Potter Cove (South Shetland, Antarctica)” (expedition “CAV 2016/17”); and Project “Benthic primary producers in the coastal Antarctic ecosystem: consequences of climate change” (expedition “CAV 2016/17”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Desarrollo Costero, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco (UNPSJB), Ruta Provincial 1, Km 4, 9005, Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina

    Adrián O. Cefarelli

  2. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge, UNPSJB, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Ruta Provincial 1, Km 4, 9005, Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina

    Adrián O. Cefarelli

  3. División Ficología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    Martha E. Ferrario

  4. CONICET, Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Martha E. Ferrario

  5. Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0218, USA

    Maria Vernet

  6. Departamento de Biología Costera, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Dirección Nacional del Antártico, 25 de Mayo 1143, 1650, San Martin, Argentina

    Gabriela L. Campana

  7. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Nacional de Luján, Ruta 5 y Av. Constitución, 6700, Luján, Argentina

    Gabriela L. Campana

  8. Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Nina Lundholm

Authors
  1. Adrián O. Cefarelli
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  2. Martha E. Ferrario
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  3. Maria Vernet
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  4. Gabriela L. Campana
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  5. Nina Lundholm
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Contributions

AC, NL, and MF conceived and designed research. AC, NL, and MV wrote the manuscript. AC, NL, and MF analyzed the morphologic characters of the diatoms taxa. AC, MV, and GC conducted field and laboratory work.

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Correspondence to Adrián O. Cefarelli.

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Cefarelli, A.O., Ferrario, M.E., Vernet, M. et al. Transfer of the Antarctic diatom Nitzschia barbieri (Bacillariophyta) to the genus Fragilariopsis and emended descriptions of F. barbieri comb. nov. and F. peragallii. Polar Biol 44, 421–431 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02803-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02803-w

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