Sirenicapillariaceae D.E. Berthold, Lefler & Laughinghouse, 2022

Berthold, David E., Lefler, Forrest W. & Laughinghouse, H. Dail, 2022, Recognizing novel cyanobacterial diversity in marine benthic mats, with the description of Sirenicapillariaceae fam. nov., two new genera, Sirenicapillaria gen. nov. and Tigrinifilum gen. nov., and seven new species, Phycologia 61 (2), pp. 146-165 : 148

Sirenicapillariaceae D.E. Berthold, Lefler & Laughinghouse fam. nov.

DESCRIPTION: Homocytous, uniseriate, isopolar, straight to slightly curved to coiled, filamentous. Thalli planktonic and/or attached to substrata and vegetation, prostrate, erect, fascicular or not. Euryhaline. Filaments with or without sheaths. Trichomes with or without constriction at cross wall. Cell content granulated typically at cross-walls. Cells discoid, apical cells range from bluntly rounded, to conical rounded, to rounded,calyptra present or not. Reproduction by single cell release, hormogonia, and/or diagonal fragmentation. False branching is rare. Currently, this family includes the genera Affixifilum , Capilliphycus , Limnoraphis , Limnospira , Neolyngbya , Sirenicapillaria and Tigrinifilum , which differ by 16S rRNA phylogeny.

DIAGNOSIS: Monophyletic group of marine/brackish/freshwater genera based on the 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, sister to the Laspinemataceae clade.

COMMENT: Genera are commonly found in marine coastal areas, with some found in inland waters. Some genera display desiccation tolerance and growth in hypersalinity.

ETYMOLOGY: Name based on the genus Sirenicapillaria , a rigid marine filamentous cyanobacterium that forms nuisance benthic blooms across the Florida western and southern coasts.

TYPE GENUS: Sirenicapillaria gen. nov.