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Paralia sulcata (Ehrenberg) Cleve 1873
Phylum: Bacillariophyta, Class: Coscinodiscophyceae, Subclass: Paraliophycidae, Order: Paraliales, Family: Paraliaceae, Genus: Paralia (Guiry et al. 2020)
SEM micrographs of the marine diatom Paralia sulcata. Usually considered a benthic diatom, also commonly found in coastal plankton (tychoplankton) and we regularly observe it on macroalgae and eelgrass. Paralia spp. cell walls are highly silicified and round. The cells are wider than long and are linked in straight chains. Valve faces have radial markings and the mantle is sharply defined. The valves within chains are connected by interlocking ridges, grooves and marginal spines. A similar genus to Ellerbeckia. At the terminal ends of each chain are separation valves; they have reduced ridges and no marginal spines. A relatively small genus, containing at least twenty species. The morphologically intricate structure of Paralia species poses difficulties in species identification.
Methods:
Sections of the eelgrass Zostera marina were boiled in concentrated sulfuric acid until full digestion, rinsed with distilled and deionized water, further briefly cleaned with 30% hydrogen peroxide, rinsed, dried and filtered onto 12 mm round 0.8 µm Teflon filters. Filters were placed on 13 mm aluminum SEM stubs with double sided tape. Imaged with a Hitachi s4800 SEM.
Thank you Ron Read for the imaging and Elaine Humphrey for SEM and imaging support at the Advanced Microscope Facility, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Thank you to Arjan van Asselt for collecting and preparation of samples.

References:

Cleve, P.T. (1873). Examination of diatoms found on the surface of the Sea of Java. Bihang till Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 1(11): 1-13, 3 pls.

Crawford, R.M. (1979). Taxonomy and frustular structure of the marine centric diatom Paralia sulcata. Journal of Phycology 15(2): 200-210.

Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2020, AlgaeBase World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://algaebase.org, searched on 22 November 2022.

Hasle, G.R. & Syvertsen, E.E. (1997). Marine Diatoms. In: Identifying Marine Phytoplankton. (Tomas, C.R. Eds), pp. 90-91. San Diego: Academic Press.

Heiberg, P.A.C. (1863). Conspectus criticus diatomacearum danicarum. Kritisk oversigt over de danske Diatomeer. pp. 1-135, 6 pls. Kjøbenhavn: Wilhelm Priors Forlag.

Yun, S.M., Lee, S.D., Park, J.S. & Lee, J.H. (2016). A new approach for identification of the genus Paralia (Bacillariophyta) in Korea based on morphology and morphometric analyses. Algae. An International Journal of Algal Research 31(1): 1-16.