A team of researchers from the University of Rzeszów, in collaboration with national and international partners, has published a study describing a new species of microscopic diatom – Halamphora lukasiewiczii. The species was discovered in natural crude oil seeps in the Polish Carpathians.

The research was carried out in inter-faculty cooperation at the University of Rzeszów – involving the Faculty of Biotechnology, the Faculty of Technology and Life Sciences, and the Faculty of Biology, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development – as well as in collaboration with scientists from the University of Szczecin and Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.

Halamphora lukasiewiczii belongs to a small group of organisms capable of developing in environments heavily contaminated with hydrocarbons. Its presence in such habitats demonstrates that even extreme and seemingly inhospitable environments can provide ecological niches for highly specialized microorganisms.

The publication highlights the unique natural value of the Podkarpacie region, pointing to the presence of distinctive microhabitats and associated rare and specialized species – also at the level of microorganisms.

The full publication is available at:
https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.271.182323