Nitzschia alpina
Hustedt 1943 Category: Nitzschioid
BASIONYM: Nitzschia alpina Hustedt 1943
LM scalebar = 10 µm = 80 pixels.
Observations
Contributor: Loren Bahls - May 2012
Length Range: 13-21 µm
Width Range: 3.3-4.2 µm
Striae in 10 µm: 23-25
Description
Valves are linear to lanceolate, with bluntly rounded to somewhat rostrate apices. Fibulae are distinct and number 11-14 in 10 µm. The fibulae are equidistant and the central nodule absent. Areolae are indistinct.
Original Description
Basionym: Nitzschia alpina
Author: Hustedt 1943
Length Range: µm
Striae in 10 µm:
Original Description
Original Images
Cite This Page:
Bahls, L. (2012). Nitzschia alpina. In Diatoms of the United States. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/species/nitzschia_alpina
Species: Nitzschia alpina
Contributor: Loren Bahls
Reviewer: Rex Lowe
Image Credit: Loren Bahls
- Fibulae distinct
- Fibulae equally spaced
- Striae 23-25 in 10 µm
Valves are linear to lanceolate with variably shaped apices. Fibulae are distinct and number 11-14 in 10 µm. The central fibulae are equidistant and number 23-25 in 10 µm.
Compare
Nitzschia amphibia and N. hantzschiana both have a distinct central nodule, which is lacking in N. alpina. Striae and fibulae of N. amphibia are more coarse and widely spaced.
Nitzschia amphibia
Nitzschia hantzschiana
Rabenhorst 1860
Citations
Hustedt, F. (1943). Die Diatomeenflora einiger Hochgebirgsseen der Landschaft Davos in den schweizer Alpen. Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie 43:124-197, 225-280.
Krammer, K. and Lange-Bertalot, H. (1988). Bacillariophyceae. 2. Teil: Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae. In: Ettl, H., J. Gerloff, H. Heynig and D. Mollenhauer (eds.) Susswasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2/2. Gustav Fisher Verlag, Jena.
Lange-Bertalot, H. and Simonsen, R. (1978). A taxonomic revision of the Nitzschiae lanceolatae Grunow. 2. European and related extra-European fresh water and brackish water taxa. Bacillaria 1:11-111.
Simonsen, R. (1987). Atlas and Catalogue of the Diatom Types of Friedrich Hustedt. J. Cramer, Berlin & Stuttgart 1: 525 pp.
Links & ID's
Index Nominum Algarum (INA)
California Academy of Sciences (CAS)
North American Diatom Ecological Database (NADED)
NADED ID: 48040
Autecology Discussion
Nitzschia alpina is widely distributed in lakes and streams in the Northern Rocky Mountains, where mean pH is 7.8 and mean specific conductance is 266 µS/cm. The most common diatom associates of N. alpina in these waters are Fragilaria tenera, Cyclotella comensis, Brachysira microcephala, Encyonopsis cesatii, Nitzschia angustata and Nitzschia bryophila.
Images
Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana: home of Nitzschia alpina.
Credit/Source: Loren Bahls