Fallacia
Stickle et Mann in Round, Crawford et Mann 1990 Category: Symmetrical biraphid
TYPE SPECIES: Fallacia pygmaea (Kützing) Stickle et Mann in Round, Crawford et Mann
Image Credit: Pat Kociolek
CLASS: Bacillariophyceae
ORDER: Naviculales
FAMILY: Sellaphoraceae
- Valves linear-lanceolate to elliptical
- Hyaline area on valve face, characteristically lyre-shaped
Valves of Fallacia are linear-lanceolate to elliptical in shape with bluntly rounded ends. A thin siliceous covering, or canopeum, covers the striae on the external valve surface. A lyre-shaped non-ornamented area is present on the valve surface. The canopeum can not be resolved in the light microscope, but slits, or linear openings of the canopeum, may be visible at the valve apices. In living cells, the canopeum may be filled with cyanobacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen. The chloroplasts are H-shaped and consist of two plates that lie against the girdle. The two plates of the plastid are connected by a narrow isthmus that lies against the epivalve.
Fallacia includes the former Navicula pygmaea Kützing and its allies. Many species are found in marine tropical waters, but a few species occur in North American in epipelic habitats of high conductance. The genus Pseudofallacia was established (Lui et al. 2012), resulting in a more narrow circumscription to Fallacia.
Cite This Page:
Spaulding, S., Edlund, M., and Metzeltin, D. (2009). Fallacia. In Diatoms of the United States. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/genus/Fallacia
Contributor: Sarah Spaulding | Mark Edlund | Ditmar Metzeltin - January 2009
Reviewer: Sam Rushforth
Citations
Hustedt, F. (1930). Die Kieselalgen Deutschlands, Osterreichs und der Schweiz mit Berucksichtigung der ubrigen Lander Europas sowie der angrenzenden Meersgebiete. In: Dr. L. Rabenhorst's Kryptogamen-Flora von Deutschland, Osterreich und der Schweiz. Leipzig, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Geest und Portig K.-G. Vol. 7, Part 3, pp. 557-816.
Liu, Y., Kociolek, J.P., Fan, Y. and Wang, Q. (2012). Pseudofallacia gen. nov., a new freshwater diatom (Bacillariophyceae) genus based on Navicula occulta Krasske. Phycologia 51(6): 620–626.
Patrick, R.M. and Reimer, C.W. (1966). The Diatoms of the United States exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii, V. 1. Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13.
Round, F.E., Crawford, R.M. and Mann, D.G. (1990). The Diatoms. Biology and Morphology of the Genera. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 747 pp.
Witkowski, A. (1993). Fallacia florinae (Moeller) comb. nov., a marine, epipsammic diatom. Diatom Research 8 (1): 215-219.
March 25th, 2013 - Circumstription of genus
The genus Pseudofallacia was established (Lui et al. 2012), resulting in a more narrow circumscription to Fallacia. Images of specimens that align with Pseudofallacia were removed from the genus page for Fallacia. - S. Spaulding