Phykos 46 (1): 16-20(2016) Gomphonema from the Vindhya and the Himalaya ©Phycological Society, India 16 Pennate diatoms Gomphonema Ehrenberg from the Vindhya (Central Highland) and the Himalaya Jyoti Verma and Prakash Nautiyal* Department of Zoology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211001, India * Department of Zoology, H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar, 246174, Uttarakhand, India E-mail address; diatombuster@gmail.com, lotic.biodiversity@gmail.com Abstract This paper presents the results of a floristic study focusing on the taxa representing the genus Gomphonema Ehrenberg in Vindhya and Himalayan Rivers of Indian subcontinent. The morphological and ecological characteristics of this taxon are little known in spite of the fact that it is generally considered to be widely distributed. In the present study, 19 diatom taxa belonging to the genus Gomphonema were identified. In the flora 15 species were recorded from the Vindhya region while 10 from the Himalaya. All of them were first records for the Vindhya. Five taxa were new records from the Himalayan region. Key words: Gomphonema/Pennate/Diatom/Himalaya/Vindhya/India. Introduction Species of Gomphonema Ehrenberg are important components of the freshwater biota. Gomphonema are very frequently observed diatom taxa in the material in Indian Rivers (Sarode and Kamat, 1984; Gandhi 1999; Karthick et al., 2011; 2015; Nautiyal et al., 2004 a and b). According to Round et al. (1990), diatom taxa belonging to the genus Gomphonema Ehr. are characterized as follows; linear lanceolate heteropolar valves; wedge shaped girdle view, uniseriate (occasionally bisiratae) strieae; pore fields present at the foot pole, straight raphae sternum; straight or slightly sinuous raphae fissures, unequal in length and usually one to a few stigma. Species belonging to Gomphonema Ehr. are relatively common to fresh water diatom communities. They often form branched mucilaginous stalks attached to solid substrata (Wojtal 2003). The diatom genus Gomphonema in India has been documented for over 160 years. Until recently, there have been relatively few studies on the freshwater diatoms of the Asian continent. Classical works include those of Hustedt (1922) and Skvortzow (1930) as well as Meister (1932), Hirano (1967), Amossé (1969) and Gandhi (1999). More recent studies have been floristic in nature, compiling the distribution of known taxa that were mostly described from Europe (Zhu and Chen, 2000; Shi, 2004). Only recently, attempts were made to better characterize the diatom flora with the description of several new taxa, both at the genus and species levels (Metzeltin et al., 2009; Li et al., 2010). One group of diatoms from this region that has received significant attention is the genus Gomphonema Ehrenberg, resulting in the description of several new species from Nepal (Jüttner et al., 2004), Russia (Lange- Bertalot and Genkal, 1999; Kulikovskiy et al., 2012), China (Fan et al., 2004; Li et al., 2006, 2010; You et al., 2013) and India (Karthick et al., 2011; 2015). Many of the species described from the Himalayan region have a similar morphology suggesting that they may be closely related (e.g. Karthick et al., 2011). In the present report we have compiled a checklist of the genus Gomphonema previously reported and described from the Yamuna drainage in the Himalaya and Central Highlands, Vindhya rivers in particular, and some other locations on the Bhagirathi, Alaknanda and Ganga rivers and their tributaries. Materials & Methods The Vindhya rivers selected for the study were located between 23 o 30’ to 26 o N, 78 o 30’ to 82 o 30’E while in the west Himalaya between 29 o 31’ to 31 o 20’N latitude, 77 o 33’ to 80 o 6’E longitude. The Vindhya rivers Ken, Paisuni and Tons flow north from low north of Narmada, around Tropic of Cancer to high latitude along southern fringe of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The Ken and Tons were relatively larger drainage 300 to 350 km compared to the Paisuni 100 km having an average gradient of 0.91 m km -1 , 2.0 m km -1 and 1.02 m km -1 , respectively. The land is primarily used for agriculture along the banks of the Ken and the Tons River. Patches of forest Shorea robusta occur in case of the Ken River. In case of the Paisuni river the headwaters is covered by forest and only lower stretch of the river is used for agriculture. Except for the mouth zone these rivers vary topographically. The Himalaya streams Dharasu and Nagni Gad and rivers Supin-Tons, Yamuna, Bhagirathi and Alaknanda flow in southerly direction. The latter two are the parent Mountain Rivers forming the Ganga R. The Dharasu and