Continental diatom biodiversity discovery and description in China: 1848 through 2019

Abstract

In this paper we inventory the continental diatom taxa described from inland waters in China, from the first species descriptions dating back to 1848 through 2019. China’s geography and hydrography are complex, including the world’s highest mountains, many large rivers, salty lakes, and large karst regions. From this area, a total of 1128 taxa have been described from China over this time period. We examine the number of taxa described in ca. 20-year intervals and note the periods of time of no to few descriptions, versus time intervals with many taxon descriptions. Early on, taxon descriptions of freshwater diatoms from China were done by mostly by Europeans working alone, and the time frame of 1948 to 1967 had few descriptions, as a devasting famine and the cultural revolution impacted scientific work and productivity. B.V. Skvortzov produced a large number of taxon descriptions, during his time in residence in Harbin, later while in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and even posthumously. More recently, a wide range of labs and collaborations across China, and with a diverse array of international partners, is ushering in a new, robust era of research on the biodiversity of continental diatoms. A few areas of research and work for the future are discussed.

A new freshwater species of Pinnularia (Bacillariophyta) from Hunan Province, China

“…Hence Pinnularia is a very large and speciose genus, with numerous species described from Chinese material (e.g. Zhang et al (2016) ; Liu et al (2018a) ; Kociolek et al (2020) ; Deng et al (2021) ; Zhang et al (2022) ). The monograph of Krammer (2000) , which provides the descriptions and illustrations of many Pinnularia taxa, still represents a very valuable source for taxon identification, although numerous other references are also needed since many new Pinnularia species have been described in the 21 st century.…”

Two new freshwater species of Surirella (Bacillariophyta) from the Wuling Mountains, China

“…Wang (2018) considered the surirelloid diatoms from inland habitats of China and recognized 47 different taxa (including only two new species) within Surirellaceae : nine taxa in Cymatopleura W. Smith, 29 taxa in Surirella , four taxa in Stenipterobia Brébisson ex Van Heurck, and five taxa in Campylodiscus Ehrenberg ex Kützing. Kociolek et al (2020) listed 33 freshwater Surirella taxa described from China before 2000, including those described by Mereschkowsky (1906) and Skvortzov (1927 ; 1929a , b , c ; 1930 , 1938 , 1976 ). Post-2000 until 2019 another 3 new taxa were described ( Kulikovskiy et al 2012 ; Liu et al 2019 ).…”

“…Post-2000 until 2019 another 3 new taxa were described ( Kulikovskiy et al 2012 ; Liu et al 2019 ). Among the above 36 taxa listed by Kociolek et al (2020) , only three species, Cymatopleura xinjiangiana Q-M You & J. P. Kociolek, C. aquastudia Q-M You & J. P. Kociolek, Surirella tientsinensis Skvortzov, were also mentioned in Wang (2018) . And most recently Liu et al (2021) described a new species from China and included the record of another species in the flora of the country.…”

A new freshwater species Achnanthidium kangdingnese (Bacillariophyta, Achnanthidiaceae) from Sichuan Province, China

“…Members of Achnanthidium have long been considered to belong to the family Achnanthaceae . In China, 48 species of Achnanthidium have been reported compared to 155 taxa of Achnanthes ( Liu et al 2021 ), including 11 new Achnanthes species ( Hustedt 1922 ; Jao 1964 ; Jao et al 1974 ; Qi and Xie 1984 ; Zhu and Chen 1994 , 1996 ; Kociolek et al 2020 ; Liu et al 2021 ). It is possible these species could belong to Achnanthidium , but the lack of the type material makes it difficult to confirm their taxonomic position.…”