Indonesia is listed as a region with high marine biodiversity, especially when considering the three large tropical ecosystems: seagrass beds, mangroves and coral reefs. It is likely that the biodiversity of diatoms in this area is also high. Samples for this research were taken from the remote area of Bawean Island and Tomini Gulf in Central Sulawesi. In this research, we explored marine benthic diatoms from coral reef areas and presented two new genera: Paracatenula and Wallaceago, and seven new species: Paracatenulaporostriata sp. nov., Wallaceagoporostriatus sp. nov., Catenulaboyanensis sp. nov., C.komodensis sp. nov., C.decusa sp. nov., C.densestriata sp. nov., and Catenulopsisbaweana sp. nov. The new genus Paracatenula is characterized by its perforated cingulum, and the genus Wallaceago is distinguished by its proximal and apical raphe ends bent to the ventral side and the presence of a stauros in the mantle.
Keywords: Biodiversity hotspot; coastal habitats; diatom; epipsammic; taxonomy.
Oktiyas Muzaky Luthfi, Sulastri Arsad, Adrian Kryk, Yenny Risjani, Yunianta, Mateusz Rybak, Łukasz Peszek, Rafał J. Wróbel, Janice L. Pappas, Małgorzata Bąk, Andrzej Witkowski.