The taxonomic composition of diatom flora of the Balikhli River (Balikhli Chay), Northwest Iran, was studied from October 2013 through September 2014. In total 109 taxa belonging to 50 genera were identified. Nitzschia (18 spp.), Navicula (9 spp.), and Gomphonema (7 spp.) were the most abundant genera. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2018) 42: 518-532 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article The epilithic and epipelic diatom flora of the Balikhli River, Northwest Iran 1, 2 Jamileh PANAHY MIRZAHASANLOU * , Taher NEJADSATTARI , 3 4 5 Zohreh RAMEZANPOUR , Javid IMANPOUR NAMIN , Younes ASRI 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Science, Gonbad Kavous University, Gonbad Kavous, Iran 2 Department of Biology, College of Science, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 3 International Sturgeon Research Institute, Rasht, Iran 4 Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Some Sara, Iran 5 Botany Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: The taxonomic composition of diatom flora of the Balikhli River (Balikhli Chay), Northwest Iran, was studied from October 2013 through September 2014. In total 109 taxa belonging to 50 genera were identified. Nitzschia (18 spp.), Navicula (9 spp.), and Gomphonema (7 spp.) were the most abundant genera. Twenty-five diatom species were found in more than half of the samples; among them, Nitzschia inconspicua, Planothidium lanceolatum, Amphora pediculus, Navicula trivialis, Gomphonema olivaceum, Nitzschia palea, and Rhoicosphenia abbreviata were the most abundant taxa, which are characteristic for alkaline and eutrophic waters. The centric diatoms constituted only of all identified taxa. In this study 20 taxa were recorded for the first time for the aquatic ecosystems of Iran. Key words: Ardabil Province, diatoms, epilithic, epipelic, taxonomic composition 1. Introduction Taxonomic diversity is one of the most important characteristics of biological communities: it reflects evolutionary processes and maintains .
