WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH DIATOMS:
Diatoms in the News, Diatom People - "Diatomists", and Diatoms for Fun

Reports in local Japanese newspapers highlight the discovery of two new species of diatoms from Lake Biwa, Japan. About 310 miles west of Tokyo on the Japanese island of Honshu, more than 500 rivers flow out of the Ibuki, Suzuka, and Hira mountains into Lake Biwa. It is an ancient lake, estimated to have first formed four million years ago. The lake is revered by the Japanese people, and appears in many myths and stories.

The two new species of diatoms, Stephanodiscus suzukii and S. pseudosuzukii were described by Tuji and Kociolek from a collection of bottom sediments from Lake Biwa. Typically, these diatoms are planktonic species (they grow in open waters) of the lake.

The new diatom species are described in a recent publication: Tuji, A. and Kociolek, J.P. 2000. Morphology and taxonomy of Stephanodiscus suzukii sp. nov. and Stephanodiscus pseudosuzukii sp. nov. (Bacillariophyceae) from Lake Biwa, Japan, and S. carconensis from North America. Phycological Research 48:231-239.