Phenotypic and ecological diversity of freshwater coccoid cyanobacteria from maritime Antarctica and Islands of NW Weddell Sea. II.

The article contains the second part of the review of natural populations of coccoid (unicellular, colonial) cyanobacteria from the coastal, maritime Antarctica and the vicinity of Antarctic Peninsula, mainly from its north-eastern region. The samples were collected from several localities with terrestrial and freshwater habitats of the deglaciated parts of South Shetland Islands, and from the northern part of James Ross Island. The material was identified according to the modern system (Komárek et al. 2014b). This second part contains 16 species (from 12 genera) from the cytologically more complicated orders Chroococcales, Pleurocapsales and Chroococcidiopsidales, characterized also by more irregular thylakoidal system. Similarly as in types from the order Synechococcales, all species are connected with special habitats and their cultivation is difficult. They are adapted to the special biotopes and in spite of their relatively wide diversity, only few occurred rarely in massive populations. Several species are evidently endemic for Antarctica, 8 species are described as new recognized taxa