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A Diatom - Stauroneis phoenicenteron
General Description
Morphological Category – Symmetric biraphid
Valves lanceolate with broadly rounded, non-protracted apices.
Axial Area narrow, widening slightly near central area. Stauros is rectangular, narrowing slightly towards the valve margins. Shortened striae may be present in central area.
Raphe lateral with straight and somewhat inflated proximal ends.
Striae radiate throughout.
Areolae 13-17 in 10 µm.
Size RangeLength 129-199 µm.
Width 26-35 µm.
Striae in 10 µm 15-18.
Useful Link:
Diatom Glossary [Diatoms of North America website]
Diagnostic Characteristics
Stauroneis rex has longer and wider valves with more widely spaced striae.
Stauroneis gracilis has curved proximal raphe ends.
Range Comments
Common and widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere.
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 39
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Lakes, ponds and streams, mainly in the mountains (Bahls 2021).
Ecology
Cool, circumneutral waters with low to moderate nutrients and conductivity (Bahls 2021).
Reproductive Characteristics
Diatoms typically reproduce by cell division (mitosis) and occasionally by meiosis—sexual reproduction in which female and male gametes combine to form a specialized zygote called an auxospore. Repeated divisions result in cells of a population becoming progressively smaller and smaller. When cells reach a critically small size, sexual reproduction is initiated, resulting in an auxospore and initial cells that are the largest attainable for the species, after which cell division and size reduction resume (Amato 2010).
Stewardship Responsibility
Threats or Limiting Factors
Climate change and regional warming.
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Amato, A. 2010. Diatom reproductive biology: living in a crystal cage. The International Journal of Plant Reproductive Biology 2(1): 1-10.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Bahls, L.L. 1971. Ecology of the diatom community of the upper East Gallatin River, Montana with in situ experiments on the effect of current velocity on features of the aufwuchs. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 145 p.
- Bahls, Loren. 2010. Stauroneis in the Northern Rockies: 50 species of Stauroneis sensu stricto from western Montana, northern Idaho, northeastern Washington and southwestern Alberta, including 16 species described as new. Northwest Diatoms, Volume 4. The Montana Diatom Collection, Helena, 172 pp.
- Bahls, Loren. 2021. Diatoms of Montana and western North America: Catalog and atlas of species in the Montana diatom collection Volume 1. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Special Publication 24. 508pp.
- Foris, W.J. 1976. A comparison of diatoms on horizontal and vertical substrates in Georgetown Lake, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 98 p.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "A Diatom"
