Asymmetric, biraphid diatoms from the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract

This taxonomic account of light micrographs from the coastal Laurentian Great lakes contains taxa from the diatom genera Amphora, Halamphora, Cymbella, Cymbopleura, Delicatophycus, Encyonema, Encyonopsis, Reimeria, Gomphonema, Gomphosphenia, Gomphonella, Gomphosinica, and Gomphoneis. A total of 207 samples of surface sediment and periphyton collected from 106 wetland, high-energy, embayment, and deeper nearshore locales are represented. Light micrographs of 154 taxa are presented. Of these, 76 could not be fully identified as known taxa from the existing literature and so are given tentative names, numbers or conferred assignments. Lake and habitat specificity, modeled autecological optima for phosphorus and chloride, and tolerance to anthropogenic stressors are described for 39 of the more common taxa.