Open Journal of Modern Hydrology, 2012, 2, 99-105 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmh.2012.24012 Published Online October 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ojmh) 99 New Genus and Species of Diatom Endemic in Lake Rani of Haryana, India Vandana Vinayak * , M. K. Goyal, Vichar Mishra Forensic Science Laboratory Madhuban, Karnal, India. Email: * kapilvinayak@gmail.com Received June 12 th , 2012; revised July 23 rd , 2012; accepted August 8 th , 2012 ABSTRACT Diatoms are unicellular plant algae which are found in almost all the waterbodies. Different diatoms respond differently to different environmental changes, there existence depending on the environmental factor of a particular place. A new diatom type was discovered in the lake Rani of Jind District of Haryana for the first time. Jind is an important district lying in the north of Haryana state located 75˚53' and 76˚47' East longitudes and between 29˚03' and 29˚51' North lati- tudes. It has a beautiful lake named as Rani Talab (Lake) which is famous for tourist visit and is located in the centre of the city. The pH of this water body ranges between 6.5 to 8.3, conductivity between 0.21 to 0.294 m·mho·cm −1 with temperature ranging between 19.5˚C to 35˚C for two consecutive years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. The newly discov- ered diatom is the only diatom which inhabits one particular Lake Rani of Haryana, it is not found elsewhere in India and any other database of diatoms generated so far in any other part of the world. The new genus was discovered by Vinayak V. et al. in the process of creation of diatom database from Haryana State of India for the first time. The new genus was named as Eunocymbellarania vandana for its genus name derived from Eunotia and Cymbella and its close affinity to these two diatoms and its origin place “Lake Rani”, but the species name “vandana” is from Diatomist Van- dana. Keywords: Diatom; Lake Rani; New Genera 1. Introduction 1.1. Origin Lake Rani in Jind was made by king of Jind because he didn’t get the permission to visit Golden Temple in Am- ritsar, Punjab (India). That’s why he created the same in Jind. In between the pond there is a temple of Lord Shiva (Figure 1). 1.2. Location and Climate The district lies in the North of Haryana between 29.03' and 29.51' North latitude & 75.53' and 76.47' East longi- tude. The area of the district is 3606 square kilometres. The climate of this district is on the whole dry, hot in summer and cold in winter. The average rainfall over the district as a whole is 55 cm. Lake Rani water quality is deteriorating day by day as water is not replaced with fresh water and is often infiltrated with rain and nearby industrial waste water. Water at the boundaries of Lake is green coloured due to manifestation of algal growth. Figure 1. Lake Rani of Jind Haryana, India (LRH). 1.3. Diatoms Diatoms are unicellular, autotrophic microscopic algae found in almost all aquatic habitats [1], with each habitat developing its characteristic flora existing under different chemical and physical environments [2]. Diatoms are * Corresponding author. Copyright © 2012 SciRes. OJMH