The elusive genus Olifantiella (Bacillariophyta): South Pacific assemblage and Indo-Pacific biogeography

Catherine Riaux-Gobin

doi:10.1515/bot-2014-0045

Article

The elusive genus Olifantiella (Bacillariophyta): South Pacific assemblage and Indo-Pacific biogeography

Catherine Riaux-Gobin
Catherine Riaux-Gobin is “Chargé de Recherche CNRS” at CRIOBE (CNRS-EPHE-UPVD & Labex “CORAIL”, Perpignan, France). Her main research interest is in polar oceanography and ecology (land fast-ice diatoms, Antarctica). Her more recent research has focused on tropical marine environments and Achnanthales taxonomy (Bacillariophyceae). She is also interested in poorly known diatom genera, such as Olifantiella.

Published/Copyright: May 13, 2015

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From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 58 Issue 4

Abstract

The biraphid genus Olifantiella (Bacillariophyta), which was recently discovered from the Mascarene Islands (Indian Ocean), is also present in coral reef environments of the islands of Tahiti and Moorea (South Pacific) as an epiphyte on the mangrove Rhizophora stylosa. The genus Olifantiella may be considered elusive because all of its currently known species are very small and difficult to identify under a light microscope. Several Olifantiella taxa first described from Rodrigues Island are also present in the South Pacific, along with three new taxa: O. societatis sp. nov., O. sp., and O. pilosella var. rhizophorae var. nov. Olifantiella societatis resembles O. paucistriata but the buciniportula opening of the former is oblong and faces one stria only. Olifantiella societatis and O. sp. show distinctive features of the genus Olifantiella but are very rare. A description of the buciniportula in O. pilosella is given. Although it is still unclear, the role of the buciniportula may be related to the excretion of mucilaginous material. The diversity of Olifantiella taxa between the Mascarene and Society archipelagos is similar with 6–7 species, five of which are common to both. Olifantiella mascarenica and O. pilosella are the most common members of the genus in the Mascarene Islands and the South Pacific, respectively. Olifantiella has only been previously described from the Indo-Pacific Basin, but it may be a widespread tropical genus. This genus has probably been overlooked in the past or misidentified as Navicula because of its overall naviculoid shape and small size. Electron microscopy remains essential in determining the identity of very small diatoms such as Olifantiella.

Keywords: biogeography; Olifantiella; South Pacific; taxonomy

Corresponding author: Catherine Riaux-Gobin, CRIOBE-USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD and Laboratoire d’Excellence “CORAIL”, Perpignan, France, e-mail: catherine.gobin@univ-perp.fr

About the author

Catherine Riaux-Gobin

Catherine Riaux-Gobin is “Chargé de Recherche CNRS” at CRIOBE (CNRS-EPHE-UPVD & Labex “CORAIL”, Perpignan, France). Her main research interest is in polar oceanography and ecology (land fast-ice diatoms, Antarctica). Her more recent research has focused on tropical marine environments and Achnanthales taxonomy (Bacillariophyceae). She is also interested in poorly known diatom genera, such as Olifantiella.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dimitri Gorand (C2M, Perpignan University, France) for his assistance with the use of SEM, Oscar E. Romero (MARUM, University of Bremen, Germany) for his help in preparing slides, and Glenn Almany and Suzanne Mills (USR 3278-CRIOBE, Perpignan, France) for improving the English language of earlier drafts of the manuscript. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the associate editor Michel Poulin for their comments. We thank the USR 3278 (CRIOBE CNRS-EPHE) for funding diatom studies, and the CRIOBE-Moorea team, particularly Franck Lerouvreur and Martin Desmalades, for their valuable help in the field.

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Received: 2014-7-20

Accepted: 2015-4-2

Published Online: 2015-5-13

Published in Print: 2015-8-1

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2014-0045

Keywords for this article

biogeography; Olifantiella; South Pacific; taxonomy