Cymbopleura amphicephala
(Naegeli) Krammer 2003 Category: Asymmetrical biraphid
BASIONYM: Cymbella amphicephala Naegeli ex Kützing 1849
REPORTED AS: Cymbella amphicephala (Patrick and Reimer 1975, plate 4, fig. 11) | Cymbella amphicephala (Krammer and Lange-Bertalot 1986, fig. 142: 3-14) | Cymbella amphicephala (A. Schmidt et al. 1875, fig. 9: 64)
Observations
Contributor: Loren Bahls - July 2012
Length Range: 20-34 µm
Width Range: 7.0-9.5 µm
Striae in 10 µm: 10-14 at center valve, 16-18 at the ends
Description
Valves are elliptic and slightly dorsiventral with the curvature of the dorsal and ventral sides very similar. Apices tend to be capitate in larger specimens and bluntly rostrate in smaller specimens. The axial area is narrowly lanceolate and expands gradually to a very small and asymmetric central area formed by 1-3 short striae on one or both sides. The raphe is filiform with proximal ends deflected slightly towards the ventral margin. Proximal raphe ends are not expanded. Distal raphe ends are deflected dorsally. Striae are slightly radiate throughout and somewhat more closely spaced on the ventral side. Areolae are difficult to resolve in LM and number 32-35 in 10 µm.
Original Description
Basionym: Cymbella amphicephala
Author: Naegeli ex Kützing 1849
Length Range: µm
Striae in 10 µm:
Original Description
Original Images
Cite This Page:
Bahls, L. (2012). Cymbopleura amphicephala. In Diatoms of the United States. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/species/cymbopleura_amphicephala
Species: Cymbopleura amphicephala
Contributor: Loren Bahls
Reviewer: Sarah Spaulding
Image Credit: Loren Bahls
- Valves elliptic, weakly dorsiventral
- Central area very small or lacking
- Areolae very fine
- Raphe filiform
Cymbopleura amphicephala has elliptic and weakly dorsiventral valves. The central area is very small or lacking. Areolae are very fine, numbering 32-35 in 10 µm. The raphe is filiform.
Compare
Cymbopleura naviculiformis has somewhat larger and moderately dorsiventral valves with a large rounded central area, a lateral raphe, and extremely fine areolae that number about 35 in 10 µm. Cymbopleura anglica has larger valves, a larger central area, and lower areola density of 24-28 in 10 µm.
Cymbopleura naviculiformis
Cymbopleura anglica
Citations
Krammer, K. (2003). Cymbopleura, Delicata, Navicymbula, Gomphocymbellopsis, Afrocymbella. Diatoms of Europe. Diatoms of the European Inland Waters and Comparable Habitats 4: 1-530.
Krammer, K. and Lange-Bertalot, H. (1986). Bacillariophyceae. 1. Teil: Naviculaceae. In: Ettl, H., J. Gerloff, H. Heynig and D. Mollenhauer (eds.) Susswasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2/1. Gustav Fisher Verlag, Jena. 876 pp.
Kützing, F.T. (1849). Species Algarum. Lipsiae. F.A. Brockhaus, 922 pp.
Patrick, R.M. and Reimer, C.W. (1975). The Diatoms of the United States, exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii, V. 2. Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13.
Schmidt, A. (-). (1874-1959). Atlas der Diatomaceen-Kunde, von Adolf Schmidt, continued by Martin Schmidt, Friedrich Fricke, Heinrich Heiden, Otto Muller, Friedrich Hustedt. Reprint 1984, Koeltz Scientific Books, Konigstein, 480 plates.
Links & ID's
Index Nominum Algarum (INA)
California Academy of Sciences (CAS)
North American Diatom Ecological Database (NADED)
NADED ID: 190008
Autecology Discussion
Cymbopleura amphicephala is widely distributed in small headwater lakes and streams throughout the Northwest United States, primarily in mountain regions but also in plains streams that originate in the mountains. Here it prefers well oxygenated and alkaline (calcium-bicarbonate) waters with moderate electrical conductance (see table below). It is rarely found in abundance. Patrick & Reimer (1975) report it as widespread in the United States "frequently under conditions of high oxygen content and at a pH above 7". Cymbopleura naviculiformis also prefers well oxygenated waters, but waters with circumneutral pH and much lower concentrations of dissolved solids (Montana Diatom Database).
Images
Medicine Grizzly Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana: home of Cymbopleura amphicephala.
Credit/Source: Loren Bahls
Abundance-weighted means of selected water quality variables measured concurrently with the collection of samples containing Cymbopleura amphicephala.
Credit/Source: Montana Diatom Database