New genera and new species of Catenulaceae (Bacillariophyta) from Coral Reef habitat of two Indonesia islands—Bawean and Sulawesi—A morphological approach

Abstract

Indonesia is listed as a region with high marine biodiversity, especially when considering the three large tropical ecosystems: seagrass beds, mangroves and coral reefs. It is likely that the biodiversity of diatoms in this area is also high. Samples for this research were taken from the remote area of Bawean Island and Tomini Gulf in Central Sulawesi. In this research, we explored marine benthic diatoms from coral reef areas and presented two new genera: Paracatenula and Wallaceago, and seven new species: Paracatenula porostriata sp. nov., Wallaceago porostriatus sp. nov., Catenula boyanensis sp. nov., C. komodensis sp. nov., C. decusa sp. nov., C. densestriata sp. nov., and Catenulopsis baweana sp. nov. The new genus Paracatenula is characterized by its perforated cingulum, and the genus Wallaceago is distinguished by its proximal and apical raphe ends bent to the ventral side and the presence of a stauros in the mantle.