A new species of Cryptomonas (Cryptophyceae) from the Western Urals (Russia)

A new species, Cryptomonas uralensis Martynenko, Gusev, Kulizin & Guseva sp. nov., is described from western slopes of the Ural Mountains (Russia) based on morphological and molecular data. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from nuclear SSU and LSU rDNA sequences show that the new species forms a clade with C. tetrapyrenoidosa Skuja emend. Hoef-Emden & Melkonian. Comparison of secondary structures of nuclear rDNA ITS2, including analysis of Compensatory Base Changes (CBC), confirms the separation between C. uralensis sp. nov. and C. tetrapyrenoidosa. Cell morphology and sizes of C. uralensis sp. nov. are very similar to C. tetrapyrenoidosa and C. pyrenoidifera, and C. uralensis sp. nov. may thus represent a species that can only be reliably identified using molecular data.