The identity of Sellaphora bacillum (Ehrenberg) D.G. Mann.

Abstract

A lectotype and epitype are designated for the freshwater epipelic diatom Navicula bacillum EHRENBERG, now generally referred to as Sellaphora bacillum (EHRENBERG) D.G. MANN. The lectotype is an original drawing preserved in the EHRENBERG collection at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, which shows a naviculoid diatom with linear valves and rounded poles. This is consistent with the current concept of S. bacillum and with usage during the last 160 years but the lectotype shows insufficient detail to constrain the use of the epithet it defines. We therefore support the lectotype with an epitype, which is the preserved material of a clone (referred to as BLA4 in previous publications) from Blackford Pond, Scotland, for which a DNA barcode is available (the cox1 sequence deposited as GenBank EF164941). We illustrate both the epitype and the natural S. bacillum population from which BLA4 was derived.