Silica-scaled Chrysophyceae (Mallomonadaceae and Paraphysomonadaceae) from New Zealand freshwaters

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Abstract
Twenty-three species of silica-scaled Chrysophyceae were collected during late spring and summer from freshwater habitats in New Zealand and identified by examination of their scales with the transmission electron microscope. Four genera, Mallomonas and Synura (Mallomonadaceae), and Paraphysomonas and Spiniferomonas (Paraphysomonadaceae), were represented. The four species of Spiniferomonas, along with 11 species and one form in the other three genera, are reported for the first time. All the species found have distributions that are cosmopolitan or nearly so. A total of 42 species in three genera of Mallomonadaceae and two genera of Paraphysomonadaceae are now known in New Zealand. The flora consists both of cosmopolitan species and those so far known only from New Zealand, and probably is still significantly under-represented. Detailed knowledge of the New Zealand flora is necessary if silica-scaled chrysophytes are to be used in palaeoecological studies, or as an aid to water quality assessments.