Gomphonema davshaense Guiry, D.Ponce & Molinari, 2021

Ponce Quintana, Daniel I., 2021, Nomenclatural notes on algae. II. Replacement names for some diatoms, Notulae Algarum 178, pp. 1-3 : 1

Gomphonema davshaense Guiry, D.Ponce & Molinari , nom. nov.

Replaced name: Gomphonema naviculoides Skabitschevsky, Novosti sistematiki nizshikh rastenii 24: 77, 1987, nom. illeg., non Gomphonema naviculoides W. Smith (1856: 98) .

Note: the epithet is derived from Davsha, a rural locality on the eastern shores of Lake Baikal in the Severo-Baykalsky District, Republic of Buryatia, Russia.

Gioacchino Frenguelli (or “Joaquín”, as he became known in South America; 1883-1958) was an Italian physician who emigrated to Argentina. His interests were wide and included geology, palaeontology, geography, and ethnography. He also studied fossil diatoms from northern Chile, particularly those found in diatomite samples from the Quaternary ( Frenguelli 1934, 1936). He discovered a clear predominance of oligohalobic species of great variety, able to live even without prospering, in brackish waters. Something characteristic of the area is that thermophilic diatoms (such as Denticula thermalis Kützing ) were found, which he believed indicated a climate with a elevated thermal regime ( Frenguelli 1936). His conclusions proved to be correct, since it is believed now that the Atacama Desert was a hot, humid place where the sea and marshes promoted life and, eventually, human settlements during the late Quaternary ( Latorre & al. 2013). However, one of his new species is a later homonym, so a new name is required: