Nitzschia is a common pennate marine diatom

Diatom

Diatoms are a major group of algae, and are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. Most diatoms are unicellular, although they can exist as colonies in the shape of filaments or ribbons , fans , zigzags , or stellate colonies . Diatoms are producers within the food chain...

. In the scientific literature this genus is sometimes termed Nitzchia, this taxon has many species described, which all have a similar morphology.

Occurrence

Nitzschia is found mostly in colder waters, and is associated with both Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 and Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 polar sea ice where it is often found to be the dominant diatom. The species N. frigida is found to grow exponentially even at temperatures between −4 and −6 degrees Celsius

Celsius

Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...

. Some Nitzchia species are also extremophile

Extremophile

An extremophile is an organism that thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on Earth. In contrast, organisms that live in more moderate environments may be termed mesophiles or neutrophiles...

s by dent of tolerance to high salinity

Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

; for example, some halophile

Halophile

Halophiles are extremophile organisms that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt. The name comes from the Greek for "salt-loving". While the term is perhaps most often applied to some halophiles classified into the Archaea domain, there are also bacterial halophiles and some...

 species of Nitzchia are found in the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

.

Species

• N. acicularis
• N. amphibia
• N. angustata
• N. brevissima
• N. clausii
• N. denticula
• N. disputata
• N. dissipata
• N. filiformis
• N. fonticula
• N. frigida
• N. gracilis

• N. frigida
• N. heuflerania
• N. frigida
• N. lacuum
• N. palea
• N. perminuta
• N. pusilla
• N. recta
• N. sigma
• N. sigmoidea
• N. sinuata
• N. tubicola