Qinia gen. nov. (Bacillariophyceae: Cymbellales) from Yunnan Province, China

An interesting group of cymbelloid diatoms was collected from lakes in Yunnan Province, China, and observations on their valve morphology made using light and scanning electron microscopy. These cymbelloid species all have apical pore fields, slit-like areolae, and areolar occlusions, and they all lack of stigmata. In this paper we propose the new genus Qinia gen. nov. for these taxa and describe them as new: Q. lashii sp. nov., Q. aequalis sp. nov., and Q. daliensis sp. nov. The genus Qinia gen. nov. has lanceolate valves asymmetrical about their apical axes, raphe located in the middle of valve, distal raphe ends bent to the dorsal margin that bisects the apical pore fields (APFs), no stigmata, areolae with slit-like external openings and projections occluding the areolar openings internally. This genus resembles the genus Cymbella in the presence of APFs, but differs from Cymbella by a lack of stigmata, and by having external distal raphe ends that bisect the apical pore fields. Like Reimeria, the external distal raphe ends bisect the lobes of the APF, but Qinia species differ from Reimeria in that they have no stigmata and the distal raphe ends are deflected dorsally, not ventrally. Comparisons were made between Qinia and other cymbelloid genera whose members possess apical pore fields. Features that distinguish each species of the new genus are also discussed.