Endospora rubra Gardner (1927: 28)

Jr, Watson Arantes Gama, Iv, Haywood Dail Laughinghouse & Sant’Anna, Célia Leite, 2014, How diverse are coccoid cyanobacteria? A case study of terrestrial habitats from the Atlantic Rainforest (São Paulo, Brazil), Phytotaxa 178 (2), pp. 61-97 : 74

Endospora rubra Gardner (1927: 28) ( Figs. 6H–6I ).

Sarcinoid to irregular colonies, 13.0–51.2 µm diam., sub-colonies paired with each other. Sheath firm, hyaline to rusty red, conspicuous, lamellate to non-lamellate, finely granulated. Cells polygonal, (4.4)6.5–9.5(16.3) µm diam. Cell content granulated, blue-green.

Habitat: —Wet rocks and dry roof.

Notes: — Bourrelly (1970) considered Endospora rubra in the genus Myxosarcina Printz (1921: 35) . However, neither this author, nor Gardner (1927), described the typical baeocyte formation for this species, which is diacritical in Myxosarcina . Komárek & Anagnostidis (1998) suggested that E. rubra belonged to the genus Cyanosarcina Kováčik (1988: 175) , since this species had the typical sarcinoid colonial arrangement. However, Cyanosorcina is not described as having colored envelopes, which is typical for E. rubra . The genus Gloeocapsopsis Geitler ex Komárek (1993: 23) has all these features: 1) the sarcinoid arrangement of colonies; 2) the colored sheaths; and 3) the formation of resistant cells by thickening of cell envelopes when they are inside the colony. Based on morphological features and since baeocytes were never found in the Brazilian material, we suggest that E. rubra truly belongs to the genus Gloeocapsopsis . However, due to lack of information on the phylogenetic position of Gloeocapsopsis and its related genera like Cyanosarcina and Asterocapsa Chu (1952: 97) , we choose not to synonymize these taxa yet.

Studied material: — BRAZIL. São Paulo: São Luís do Paraitinga, State Park of “Serra do Mar” ( Santa Virgínia ), 23º 20’ 16” S, 45º 9’ 01” W, 22 February 2010, W.A. Gama-Jr. (SP 401418); 23º 20’ 10” S, 45º 8’ 44” W, 24 February 2010, W.A. Gama-Jr. (SP 401434) .

Figures

FIGURES 6A–6D. Cyanostylon gelatinosus. 6C. Cells detail. 6D. Mucilage stalk detail. FIGURE 6E. Cyanostylon cf. gelatinosus. General colony habit with detail of mucilage stalks (arrows). FIGURES 6F–6G. Cyanostylon sp. 6G. Mucilage stalk detail (arrow). FIGURES 6H–6I. Endospora rubra. General colony habit with cell packets showing individual envelopes (arrows).