Abstract
Obligately epizoic diatoms (Bacillariophyta) on vertebrates were first described from cetaceans, but turtles, both freshwater and marine, also host very specific floras. Several scrapings of juvenile Chelonia mydas have allowed the description of two new diatom taxa whose valves are asymmetrical about the transapical axis, Tripterion societatis sp. nov. and Chelonicola caribeana sp. nov. These taxa are very small and show some morphological plasticity. Such plasticity might suggest their inclusion in genera with slightly different characteristics from Tripterion and Chelonicola as originally delimited. Based on our observations, an emended diagnosis is proposed for Chelonicola.
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