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Name derivation:
“Small ship” – Ship (navi-) small (-cula)
Classification:
Navicula Bory de Saint-Vincent 1822 Order Naviculales; Family Naviculaceae Treated as synonyms in PhycoKey: Craticula Grunow 1867 Fallacia Stickle and D.G. Mann 1990 (in Round et al. 1990) Lyrella Karajeva 1978 Sellaphora Mereschowsky 1902
Morphology:
Cells are solitary and are elliptical to lanceolate in shape with rounded, flat, or capititate ends. Striations vary and may or may not be visible under light microscope. The central area may be thickened but without a banded stauros shape. Most species are found in valve view, but can be found in girdle view. Each cell contains two plastids that are pushed agains the girdle of the frustule.
Similar genera:
Fallacia, separated by Stickle and D.G. Mann (1990) is not separated in PhycoKey. Lyrella, separated by Nevrova et al. (2013) is not separated in PhycoKey. Sellaphora, separated by Mereschowsky (1902), is not separated in PhycoKey. Mann (1989) resurrects the genus based on the chloroplast ‘H’ shape, as well as the shape of the pyrenoid. Stauroptera, separated by Ehrenberg (1843), is not separated in PhycoKey. Trachyneis, separated by Cleve (1894), is not separated in PhycoKey (aee description online).
Habitat:
Navicula species are common in both freshwater and marine habitats.
References:
Bory de Saint-Vincent, J.B.G.M. 1822. Bacillarées.Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire naturelle2: 127-129. Cleve, P.T. 1894. Synopsis of the naviculoid diatoms. Part I. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar, series 4 26(2): 1-194, 5 pl. Grunow, A. 1867. Reise seiner Majestät Fregatte Novara um die Erde. Botanischer Theil. Band I. Algen. pp. 1-104, pls I, Ia, II-XI.. Wien: Aus der Kaiselich-Königlichen Hof-und Staasdruckerei. Karajeva, N.I. 1978. New genus of the family Naviculaceae West. Botanicheskii Zhurnal (St. Petersburg) 63(11): 1593-1596. Mann, D.G. 1989. The diatom genus Sellaphora: Separation from Navicula. British Phycological Journal 24:1-20. Mereschkowsky, C. 1902. On Sellaphora, a new genus of diatoms. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 79: 185-195. Nevrova, E., A. Witkowski, M. Kulikovskiy, H. Lange-Bertalot, and J.P. Kociolek 2013. A revision of the diatom genus Lyrella Karayeva (Bacillariophyta: Lyrellaceae) from the Black Sea, with descriptions of five new species. Phytotaxa 83(1):1-38. Round, F. E., Crawford, R. M., Mann, D. G. 1990. The Diatoms. Cambridge University Press. New York, NY. Wehr, J., Sheath, R. 2003. Freshwater Algae of North America Ecology and Classification. Academis Press. San Diego, CA.