Morphology of Tabularia tabulata from the Hakata River, Fukuoka Prefecture, Western Japan and an Identification Key to Tabularia Species (Fragilariaceae)

Abstract

Tabularia species often have been described from reports of diatom assemblages in brackish water. Here, we describe the fine structure of T. tabulata from the mouth of the Hakata River (Fukuoka Pref., Japan). Tabularia tabulata is characterized by a stria consisting of two large areolae covered by a cribra without cross-bars, and a single rimoportula situated at each pole close to the ocellulimbus. In Tabularia 10 species have been found in marine or brackish waters. We also report an identification key of the 10 Tabularia species based on their morphological information.