Two new species of Pseudogomphonema (Bacillariophyceae: Naviculales) from King George Island, Antarctica
Adil Y Al-Handal, Michael J Sullivan, Thomas A Frankovich, Angela K Wulff
Researchers have described two new marine diatom species from Antarctica—Pseudogomphonema minutum and Pseudogomphonema gracile—found living epiphytically on the red alga Georgiella confluens at Potter Cove, King George Island. Their discovery highlights the hidden biodiversity of Antarctic benthic ecosystems and suggests that many undescribed diatom taxa likely await discovery in these cold, marine environments, contributing to a broader understanding of diatom evolution, endemism, and biogeography in polar regions .