EOLIMNA BECARESII SP. NOV., A NEW DIATOM TAXON FROM A SPANISH SHALLOW LAKE

Abstract

In 2003 during a biological survey carried out on the shallow lakes located on the northernIberian plateau, a diatom community dominated by an unknown Eolirnna sp. was found as anepiphyte on Chara connivens in Lake Constanzana (Spain). Detailed light and scanningelectron microscopy observations allowed the description of this new species. Differentialdiagnostic criteria with respect to similar taxa, especially E. archibaldii J.C. Taylor &Lange-Bertalot, together with ecological implications of this finding, are briefly discussed.