Background and aims – The present study aims to describe a new species of pennate blue diatom from the genus Haslea, H. nusantara sp. nov., collected from Semak Daun Island, the Seribu Archipelago, in Indonesian marine waters.
Methods – Assessment for species identification was conducted using light microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and molecular techniques. The morphological characteristics of H. nusantara have been described, illustrated and compared to other morphologically similar blue Haslea taxa, distributed worldwide. Additionally, molecular characterization was achieved by sequencing plastidial and mitochondrial genomes.
Key results – This new species, named Haslea nusantara, cannot be discriminated by its morphology (stria density) but it is characterized by its gene sequences (rbcL chloroplast gene and cox1 mitochondrial gene). Moreover, it differentiates from other blue Haslea species by the presence of a thin central bar, which has been previously reported in non-blue species like H. pseudostrearia. The complete mitochondrion (36,288 basepairs, bp) and plastid (120,448 bp) genomes of H. nusantara were sequenced and the gene arrangements were compared with other diatom genomes. Phylogeny analyses established using rbcL indicated that H. nusantara is included in the blue Haslea cluster and close to a blue Haslea sp. found in Canary Islands (H. silbo sp. ined.).
Conclusions – All investigations carried out in this study show that H. nusantara is a new blue-pigmented species, which belongs to the blue Haslea clade, with an exceptional geographic distribution in the Southern Hemisphere.
Desa Bakau is located in Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan which has the potential for mangrove forests with an area of ± 305 Ha. Ecologically, mangrove forests have various roles, one of them is as a habitat for various types of aquatic biota, including gastropods. Several gastropods have important economic value for the community as food and medicine. The local community catches and consumes the mangrove gastropods. As a food ingredient, gastropods have a high nutritional content and essential macro minerals. Gastropods can be used as an alternative source of animal protein at an affordable price. This study aimed to determine the nutritional value of the gastropod Cassidula from the mangrove area of Desa Bakau, Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan. Quantitatively, nutrient content such as protein, carbohydrates, fat, moisture, and ash content were determined according to the AOAC (2005) standard method, whereas macro minerals content (Na, K, Mg, Ca, and P) was carried out according to the AOAC method (2016) using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The result showed that Cassidula had a protein content (57.02%) with the highest value compared to other types of nutrients. In addition, Cassidula also contained an essential macro mineral, such as calcium (37.0006 mg/kg) with the highest value followed by sodium (21.7364 mg/kg), respectively. The results showed that Cassidula can be used as an alternative food ingredient for human.
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