New endolithic cyanophytes from the North Atlantic Ocean. III. Hyella pyxis Lukas & Hoffman sp. nov.

A new species of marine endolithic cyanophyte, Hyella pyxis Lukas and Hoffman (Order: Pleurocapsales), differs from other species of Hyella in its cell and filament dimensions, the manner in which its branches are initiated and the presence of gloeocapsin in the sheaths of colonies from the intertidal zone. Hyella pyxis colonies consist of a small cluster of coccoid cells located at the substrate surface and long, conspicuously branched filaments composed of cells that are longer than they are wide. Branches are initiated by the reorientation of the distal end of a filament cell or by the elongation of a filament cell, usually at one of its distal corners. Chromatic adaptation was not observed perhaps accounting for the relatively shallow depth limit of this species. Hyella pyxis was found within mollusk shells from the continental margin of eastern Florida to a depth of 50 m and carbonate rocks in the intertidal zone on Bermuda.