As part of the RID project, another publication focused on diatom taxonomy has been published. The authors are Dr. Mateusz Rybak (Faculty of Biotechnology, Collegium Medicum, University of Rzeszów) and Prof. Zlatko Levkov from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. The paper is the outcome of a research visit carried out last year.

The study yielded surprising results, demonstrating that the well-known and widely reported European diatom Luticola ventricosa, also recorded in the Podkarpacie region, is not a single species but a complex comprising as many as ten distinct species. Among these, six have been described as new to science. This means that many previous reports of this species may be based on misidentifications, and the total number of taxa within this complex could be even higher.

These findings highlight the importance of detailed morphological studies, even in the case of well-known organisms. Such analyses reveal hidden biological diversity and allow for a better understanding of species distribution and ecological differentiation.

One of the newly described species (shown in the figure) was named in honor of Prof. Jadwiga “Jagoda” Stanek-Tarkowska, who initiated research on terrestrial diatoms at the University of Rzeszów.

The publication is available at: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.274.190463