Diatom of the Month January 2019 - Chaetocerotaceae
In this first 2019 Diatom of the Month post , Chetan Chandrakant Gaonkar * present us the marine diatom planktonic family Chaetocerotaceae and how to unravel its complex diversity by using up-to-date molecular techniques The family Chaetocerotaceae is arguably among the most diverse among planktonic diatoms. Species are particularly common in coastal waters and upwelling zones where they are responsible for a substantial part of the primary productivity 1-3 . The hallmark of this family constitutes hollow siliceous tubular structures, called the setae, emerging from the corner of the valves. The family includes two extant genera, Bacteriastrum Shadbolt and Chaetoceros Ehrenberg 4 , the latter being way more diverse. Within the genus Chaetoceros two subgenera are commonly recognized, Chaetoceros (a.k.a. Phaeoceros), which is characterized by exhibiting plastids in the setae , and Hyalo...