Fottea X:X | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2026.002

Halamphora izadii sp. nov., a new diatom species from the hottest place on earth, Lut Desert, Iran

Somayyeh Kheiri1, Mark B. Edlund2, Sarah A. Spaulding3, Cüneyt Nadir Solak4, Jafar Sabouri5, Łukasz Peszek6
1 Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
2 St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Science Museum of Minnesota, Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047 USA
3 INSTAAR, 4001 Discovery Drive, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
4 Dumlupinar University, Department of Biology, Art & Science Faculty, Kütahya, Türkiye
5 Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran
6 Department of Agroecology and Forest Utilization, University of Rzeszów, Ćwiklińskiej 1A Str., 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland

In a study on the diatom flora of the Lut desert, the hottest point on Earth, we report a new species Halamphora izadii sp. nov. This species is described based on LM and SEM observations and belongs among the many small-sized species distributed across the Halamphora lineage. The new species can withstand extreme air temperatures and high salinity concentrations found in waterways of the Lut Desert. Halamphora izadii is differentiated by possessing fine striae, hardly resolvable in LM at 26-30 striae in 10 µm, a subcentral raphe, and areolae opening externally by narrow slit-like openings with dilated ends. The species is compared to morphologically similar Halamphora species, and its ecology and phylogenetic placement is discussed.

Keywords: amphoroid diatoms, Bacillariophyceae, extremophile, hypersaline, morphology, taxonomy

Received: November 28, 2025; Revised: February 12, 2026; Accepted: February 16, 2026; Prepublished online: September 9, 2026 

Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Ács, É., Ector, L., Kiss, K. T., Cserháti, C., Morales, E. A., & Levkov, Z. (2011). Morphological observations and emended description of Amphora micrometra from the Bolivian Altiplano, South America. Diatom Research, 26(2), 199-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.2011.597987 Go to original source...
    2. Akbarpour, M., & Shafei, S. (2015). Range extension of Misonne's swollen-nose gecko, Rhinogecko misonnei De Witte, 1973 (Sauria: Geckonidae) in Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics, 11(2), 179-182. https://doi.org/10.22067/ijab.v11i2.49245 Go to original source...
    3. Alai Taleghani, M. (2002). Geomorphology of Iran. Gomes Publication. (In Persian).
    4. An, S. M., Kim, J., Kang, N. S., Cho, K., Lee, J. A., & Kim, E. S. (2022). Halamphora minima (Catenulaceae, Bacillariophyta), new brackish diatom species from the mudflat in Hampyeong Bay, Korea. Phytotaxa, 572(1), 115-122. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.572.1.9 Go to original source...
    5. An, S. M., Kim, J., Cho, K., & Hwang, H. J. (2024). Halamphora hampyeongensis sp. nov. (Amphipleuraceae, Bacillariophyceae), a new marine benthic diatom from a tidal mudflat in Hampyeong Bay, South Korea. PhytoKeys, 248, 59-71. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.248.135034 Go to original source...
    6. APHA. (2017). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. American Public Health Association.
    7. Azarderakhsh, M., Prakash, S., Zhao, Y., & AghaKouchak, A. (2020). Satellite-based analysis of extreme land surface temperatures and diurnal variability across the hottest place on Earth. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 17(12), 2025-2029. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2019.2962055 Go to original source...
    8. Azarkina, G. N., & Zamani, A. (2019). The Aelurillina Simon, 1901 (Aranei: Salticidae) of Iran: A check-list and three new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1884 and Proszynskiana Logunov, 1996. Arthropoda Selecta, 28(1), 83-97. https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2023.19.4.732 Go to original source...
    9. Cantonati, M., Angeli, N., Lange-Bertalot, H., & Levkov, Z. (2019). New Amphora and Halamphora (Bacillariophyta) species from springs in the northern Apennines (Emilia-Romagna, Italy). Plant Ecology and Evolution, 152(2), 285-292. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2019.1605 Go to original source...
    10. Compère, P. (1981). Algues des deserts d'Iran. Bulletin du Jardin botanique national de Belgique / Bulletin van de Nationale Plantentuin van België, 51(1/2), 3-40. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2014.993 Go to original source...
    11. Davidovich, O. I., Davidovich, N. A., Podunay, Y. A., & Martynenko, N. A. (2024). Ecophysiology of extremophilic diatom alga Nitzschia cf. thermaloides from mud volcanoes of Crimea. Inland Water Biology, 17(5), 822-829. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0320965224050109 Go to original source...
    12. Delgado, C., Feio, M. J., Pardo, I., & Almeida, S. F. (2020). Effects of water temperature over benthic diatom communities: Insights from thermal springs. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 13(3-4), 325-337. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2020.1762133 Go to original source...
    13. Gouldi, A. S. (2007). Mega-Yardangs: A global analysis. Geography Compass, 1(1), 65-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2006.00003.x Go to original source...
    14. Guiry, M. D., & Guiry, G. M. (2025). AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org
    15. Kamali, K., & Anderson, S. C. (2015). A new Iranian Phrynocephalus (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae) from the hottest place on earth and a key to the genus Phrynocephalus in southwestern Asia and Arabia. Zootaxa, 3904(2), 249-260. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3904.2.4 Go to original source...
    16. Kheiri, S., Edlund, M. B., Spaulding, S., Solak, C. N., Sabouri, J., Izadi, B., & Peszek, L. (2024). Lutophila gen. nov. a new diatom genus from the hottest place on Earth, Lut Desert, Iran. Phytotaxa, 641(2), 99-111. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.641.2.2 Go to original source...
    17. Léonard, J. (1991-1992). Contribution à l'étude de la flore et de la végétation des déserts d'Iran. Etude de la végétation: Analyse phytosociologique et phytochorologique des groupments végétaux (Fascicule 10, Vol. 1/2). Jardin Botanique National de Belgique.
    18. Levkov, Z. (2009). Amphora sensu lato. In H. Lange-Bertalot (Ed.), Diatoms of Europe: Diatoms of the European Inland Waters and Comparable Habitats (Vol. 5). A.R.G. Gantner Verlag.
    19. Levkov, Z., & Zaova, D. (2023). Halamphora ectorii sp. nov. a new diatom species from saline spring Solenica in North Macedonia. Nova Hedwigia, 117, 255-263. https://doi.org/10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2023/0845 Go to original source...
    20. López-Fuerte, F. O., & Siqueiros-Beltrones, D. A. (2018). Halamphora primus (Bacillariophyta): A new diatom species from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Phytotaxa, 369(4), 287-294. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.369.4.6 Go to original source...
    21. López-Fuerte, F. O., Sala, S. E., Lora-Vilchis, M. C., & Murugan, G. (2020). Halamphora siqueirosii (Bacillariophyta), a new diatom species isolated from a hypersaline evaporation pond in Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Phytotaxa, 451(2), 132-144. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.451.2.3 Go to original source...
    22. Lyons, W. B., Welch, S. A., Gardner, C. B., Sharifi, A., Aghakouchak, A., Mashkour, M., Djamali, M., Matinzadeh, Z., Palacio, S., & Akhani, H. (2020). The hydrogeochemistry of shallow groundwater from Lut Desert, Iran: The hottest place on Earth. Journal of Arid Environments, 178, Article 104143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2020.104143 Go to original source...
    23. Mereschkowsky, C. (1903). Les types de l'endochrome chez les diatomées. Botanicheskiia Zhurnal, 21, 1-106.
    24. Mildrexler, D. J., Zhao, M., & Running, S. W. (2006). Where are the hottest spots on earth? EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 87(43), 461-467. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006EO430002 Go to original source...
    25. Mostofi, A. (1972). Shahdad and the historical geography of the Lut Plain. Tehran University Press. (In Persian).
    26. Nikulina, T. V., & Kociolek, J. P. (2011). Diatoms from hot springs from Kuril and Sakhalin islands (Far East, Russia). In J. Seckbach & P. Kociolek (Eds.), The diatom world (pp. 333-363). Springer Verlag. Go to original source...
    27. Olivares-Rubio, H. F., Cabrera, L. I., Godínez-Ortega, J. L., Salazar-Coria, L., & Vega-Lopez, A. (2017). Halamphora oceanica (Catenulaceae, Bacillariophyta), a new species from the epipelagic region of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Phytotaxa, 317(3), 188-198. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.317.3.3 Go to original source...
    28. Pane, E. P., Risjani, Y., Hamilton, P. B., Solak, C. N., Yunianta, Y., Ertorun, N., & Yilmaz, E. (2024). A new marine diatom (Bacillariophyceae) species - Halamphora lombokensis sp. nov. and the first observation for H. banzuensis from Kuta Beach Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. PhytoKeys, 250, 165-179. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.250.132304 Go to original source...
    29. Pellegrino, L., Natalicchio, M., Birgel, D., Pastero, L., Carnevale, G., Jordan, R. W., Peckmann, J., Zanellato, N., & Dela Pierre, F. (2023). From biogenic silica and organic matter to authigenic clays and dolomite: Insights from Messinian (upper Miocene) sediments of the Northern Mediterranean. Sedimentology, 70(2), 505-537. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.13053 Go to original source...
    30. Rajabizadeh, M., Morinière, J., & Rajaei, H. (2021). Adaptation to the hottest spot on earth: Dietary ecology of an enigmatic desert gecko based on DNA metabarcoding. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 59(6), 1470-1480. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12558 Go to original source...
    31. Renberg, I. (1990). A procedure for preparing large sets of diatom slides from sediment cores. Journal of Paleolimnology, 4(1), 87-90. Go to original source...
    32. Round, F. E., Crawford, R. M., & Mann, D. G. (1990). The Diatoms: Biology and morphology of the genera. Cambridge University Press.
    33. Saber, A. A., El-Sheekh, M. M., Salem, O. M., Levkov, Z., Cantonati, M., Alotaibi, M. O., & Saber, H. (2025). Adding to our knowledge on the diatom and green algae biodiversity of Egypt: Some new-to-science, poorly known, and newly recorded species. Water, 17(3), Article 446. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030446 Go to original source...
    34. Sabouri, J., & Alimohammadian, H. (2013). The use of diatoms in the paleo-interpretation of Quaternary ecology and the first report of the existence of diatoms in the Lut Desert [Paper presentation]. First Conference of the Iranian Quaternary Society. (In Persian).
    35. Sala, S. E., Vouilloud, A. A., Popovich, C. A., Sanchez-Puerta, M., Almandoz, G. O., Coy, B. M., Montoya, N. G., & Leonardi, P. (2021). Molecular, morphological, and toxinological characterizations of an Argentinean strain of Halamphora coffeaeformis with potential biotechnological applications. Journal of Applied Phycology, 33(2), 799-806. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02353-4 Go to original source...
    36. Schwentner, M., Rudov, A., & Rajaei, H. (2020). Some like it hot: Phallocryptus fahimii sp. n. (Crustacea: Anostraca: Thamnocephalidae) from the Lut desert, the hottest place on Earth. Zoology in the Middle East, 66(4), 1-11. Go to original source...
    37. Sehhatisabet, M. E. (2007). A preliminary survey of the distribution of Pleske's Ground Jay Podoces pleskei in Iran, with some information on numbers. Podoces, 2(1), 37-51.
    38. Spaulding, S. A., Potapova, M. G., Bishop, I. W., Lee, S. S., Gasperak, T. S., Jovanoska, E., Furey, P. C., & Edlund, M. B. (2021). Diatoms.org: Supporting taxonomists, connecting communities. Diatom Research, 36(4), 291-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.2021.2006790 Go to original source...
    39. Stepanek, J. G., & Kociolek, J. P. (2015). Three new species of the diatom genus Halamphora (Bacillariophyceae) from the prairie pothole lakes region of North Dakota, USA. Phytotaxa, 197(1), 27-36. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.197.1.3 Go to original source...
    40. Stepanek, J. G., & Kociolek, J. P. (2018). Amphora and Halamphora from coastal and inland waters in the United States and Japan. Bibliotheca Diatomologica, 66, 1-260.
    41. Stepanek, J. G., & Kociolek, J. P. (2019). Molecular phylogeny of the diatom genera Amphora and Halamphora (Bacillariophyceae) with a focus on morphological and ecological evolution. Journal of Phycology, 55(2), 442-456. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.12836 Go to original source...
    42. Stone, R. (2016). Some like it hot. Science, 354(6318), 1366-1368. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.354.6318.136 Go to original source...
    43. Thomas, D. N., & Dieckmann, G. S. (2002). Antarctic sea ice-a habitat for extremophiles. Science, 295(5555), 641-644. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063391 Go to original source...
    44. Van de Vijver, B., Kopalová, K., Zidarova, R., & Levkov, Z. (2014). Revision of the genus Halamphora (Bacillariophyta) in the Antarctic Region. Plant Ecology and Evolution, 147(3), 374-391. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2014.979 Go to original source...
    45. Vyverman, W., Sabbe, K., Mann, D. G., Kilroy, C., Vyverman, R., Vanhoutte, K., & Hodgson, D. (1998). Eunophora gen. nov. (Bacillariophyta) from Tasmania and New Zealand: Description and comparison with Eunotia and amphoroid diatoms. European Journal of Phycology, 33(2), 95-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670269810001736593 Go to original source...
    46. Wu, W., Lin, H., Patil, V., Kociolek, J. P., Sun, L., Li, X., Liang, J., Chen, C., & Gao, Y. (2020). A new marine epiphytic diatom species, Halamphora yundangensis sp. nov. (Bacillariophyceae), from Yundang Lake, Southeast coast of China. Phytotaxa, 450(2), 209-218. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.450.2.6 Go to original source...
    47. Yazdi, A., Emami, M. H., & Shafiee, S. (2014). Dasht-e Lut in Iran, the most complete collection of beautiful geomorphological phenomena of desert. Open Journal of Geology, 4(6), 249-261. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojg.2014.46019 Go to original source...
    48. Yilmaz, E., Gastineau, R., Solak, C. N., Górecka, E., Trobajo, R., Turmel, M., Lemieux, C., Otis, C., Witkowski, A., & Mann, D. G. (2024). Morphological and molecular characterization of Halamphora vantushpaensis (Bacillariophyceae, Amphipleuraceae), a new diatom species widely dispersed on the shores of the soda Lake Van (Türkiye). PhytoKeys, 249, 95-114. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.249.133205 Go to original source...
    49. Zamani, A., & Marusik, Y. M. (2018). The first report on the spider fauna (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Lut Desert, Iran. Acta Arachnologica, 67(2), 67-75. https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.67.67 Go to original source...
    50. Zamani, A., Seiedy, M., Saboori, A., & Marusik, Y. M. (2018). The spider genus Pterotricha in Iran, with the description of a new genus (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). ZooKeys, 777, 17-41. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.777.26745 Go to original source...
    51. Zhang, W., Wang, T., Levkov, Z., Jüttner, I., Ector, L., & Zhou, Q. C. (2019). Halamphora daochengensis sp. nov., a new freshwater diatom species (Bacillariophyceae) from a small mountain lake, Sichuan Province, China. Phytotaxa, 404(1), 12-22. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.404.1.2 Go to original source...
    52. Zidarova, R., Pottiez, M., De Haan, M., Ivanov, P., Kanjer, L., & Bosak, S. (2025). A study on some small-celled Halamphora (Bacillariophyta) taxa from the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, with the description of eleven new species. Phytotaxa, 717(3), 217-257. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.717.3.1 Go to original source...

    Return