Navicula leptostriata | Species - Diatoms of North America

Category

Symmetric Biraphid
Length Range

33-39 µm
Width Range

4.9-5.7 µm
Striae in 10 µm

19-20

Reported As

Navicula heimansii (Van Dam and Kooyman 1982)

Contributor

Loren Bahls - Mar 2012
Reviewer

Sam Rushforth - Oct 2012

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Identification

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Description

Valves are narrowly lanceolate with acutely rounded, subtly protracted apices. Valves are lightly silicified and features tend to be faint and difficult to resolve. The raphe is filiform. Proximal raphe ends are very close and deflected to the primary side. The axial area is very narrow. The central area is small, transversely widened, and asymmetrical with irregular borders. Striae are curved and strongly radiate near the valve middle, becoming strongly convergent near the apices. Areolae are very close together and cannot be distinguished in LM.

Autecology

Navicula leptostriata has been recorded from eight streams and small lakes in the northern Rocky Mountains, where it is typically associated with Navicula notha. The mean pH at these locations is 7.5 and the mean specific conductance is 154 µS/cm.

Size Range, µm3

101-1000
Motility

Moderately motile
Attachment

Unattached
Habitat

Benthic
Colony

Solitary
BCG

BCG 1
Waterbody

Inland
Distribution

Western rivers 2004 California coastal rivers 2017 Great Lakes inventory
Learn more about this

Credit: Photo courtesy of Barb Johnston, Parks Canada.

Summit Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta: home of Navicula leptostriata.

Original Description

N. leptostriata nov. sp., pl. II, fig. 25. The frustule narrow lanceolate with slightly prominent ends. Length 18.5-31.5 µ, 4-5 µ. Axial area very narrow, central area small, round. Transversal striae very faint, radial, convergent towards the apex, 20-23 in 10 µ, 25 towards the apex.

Østrup (1910) found a species in Madum Sø which, on examining his original slide, I have convinced myself is identical with N. leptostriata. Østrup placed his find to N. nuda Pant. in Pantocsek 1886-93 II p. 51; table VI, fig. 108. In my opinion N. leptostriata has nothing to do with this one. N. nuda is somewhat larger, 37.5 µ long and 7 µ wide and lacks striae. The striae on N. leptostriata are very faint in styrax but more distinct in realgar. N. nuda is also stated as having been found in brackish water.

Dominant in Madum Sø, in smaller numbers in Skørsø, Grovsø and Øjesø. pH: 5.0-6.8, acidophilous.

Author

E.G.Jørg. 1948
Length Range

18.5-31.5 µm
Width

4-5 µm
Striae in 10µm

20-23, 25 towards the apex

Original Images

Citations & Links

Citations

Jørgenson, E.G. (1948) Diatom communities in some Danish lakes and ponds. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Biologiske Shrifter 5(2): 1-140.

Cite This Page

Bahls, L. (2012). Navicula leptostriata. In Diatoms of North America. Retrieved December 16, 2024, from https://diatoms.org/species/48425/navicula_leptostriata

Responses

The 15 response plots show an environmental variable (x axis) against the relative abundance (y axis) of Navicula leptostriata from all the stream reaches where it was present. Note that the relative abundance scale is the same on each plot. Explanation of each environmental variable and units are as follows:

ELEVATION = stream reach elevation (meters)
STRAHLER = distribution plot of the Strahler Stream Order
SLOPE = stream reach gradient (degrees)
W1_HALL = an index that is a measure of streamside (riparian) human activity that ranges from 0 - 10, with a value of 0 indicating of minimal disturbance to a value of 10 indicating severe disturbance.
PHSTVL = pH measured in a sealed syringe sample (pH units)
log_COND = log concentration of specific conductivity (µS/cm)
log_PTL = log concentration of total phosphorus (µg/L)
log_NO3 = log concentration of nitrate (µeq/L)
log_DOC = log concentration of dissolved organic carbon (mg/L)
log_SIO2 = log concentration of silicon (mg/L)
log_NA = log concentration of sodium (µeq/L)
log_HCO3 = log concentration of the bicarbonate ion (µeq/L)
EMBED = percent of the stream substrate that is embedded by sand and fine sediment
log_TURBIDITY = log of turbidity, a measure of cloudiness of water, in nephelometric turbidity units (NTU).
DISTOT = an index of total human disturbance in the watershed that ranges from 1 - 100, with a value of 0 indicating of minimal disturbance to a value of 100 indicating severe disturbance.