The Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest is a highly heterogeneous ecosystem comprising large numbers of tropical and subtropical habitats favorable to the development of cyanobacteria. Studies on cyanobacteria in this ecosystem are still rare, however, especially those involving unicellular and colonial types. The high biodiversity and endemism of this biome has been extremely impacted and fragmented, and less than 10% of its original vegetation cover remains today. We describe here a new species of a colonial cyanobacteria, Lemmermanniella terrestris, found on dry soils in a subtropical region of the Atlantic Rainforest in the municipality of Cananéia in southern São Paulo State, Brazil. This new taxon demonstrated all of the diacritical features of the genus Lemmermanniella but, unlike the other species of the genus, it was growing on the soil surface and not in an aquatic environment. A set of morphological features, including colonies composed of subcolonies, and cell dimensions, shapes and contents distinguish it from other species of the genus. Considering that species of Lemmermanniella are found in very distinct habitats (such as thermal and brackish waters) and that they maintain the same life cycle described for the genus in all of those environments, the morphological structures of the colonies can be used as reliable markers for identifying the genus, and its species differ primarily in relation to the habitats they occupy.

O trabalho propõe Cyanoaggregatum brasiliense, gênero e espécie novos, encontrado no plâncton de lagoa costeira salobra, subtropical, do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, sul do Brazil. O novo gênero difere dos demais membros da ordem Chroococcales pela disposição característica de suas células em grupos irregulares, planos ou levemente curvos, constituídos por uma camada de células, dispostas em fileiras irregulares, levemente distantes umas das outras, formando padrão semelhante a um mosaico, na periferia do envelope mucilaginoso. A divisão celular em um único plano, perpendicular ao eixo maior e a ausência de pseudofilamentos permitiram classificar estas populações na família Synechococcaceae, subfamília Aphanothecoideae. As características gerais, a diagnose e a posição taxonômica do novo táxon são discutidas. São apresentadas comparações entre Cyanoaggregatum e os gêneros mais próximos, assim como dados físicos e químicos referentes ao local-tipo e sua distribuição geográfica.

The paper proposed Cyanoaggregatum brasiliense, a new genus and species from the plankton of a subtropical brackish coastal lagoon from Rio Grande do Sul State, South Brazil. It differs from all other members of Chroococcales by its characteristic arrangement of cells in irregular groups distributed in a single, flat or slightly curved layer, on irregular rows, slightly distant from each other, forming a mosaic-like pattern slightly below the surface of the mucilaginous colonial envelope. The cell division in one plane perpendicular to the long axis and the lack of pseudo-filaments indicate its classification in the family Synechococcaceae, sub-family Aphanothecoideae. The general characteristics, the diagnostic criteria and the taxonomic position are discussed, and a comparison between Cyanoaggregatum and its most closely related genera is presented. Physical and chemical data on the studied lagoon and geographical distribution are presented.

Ambientes aeroffticos brasileiros são quase totalmente desconhecidos em relação à sua flora de cianobactéria. Durante o estudo desta flora, três morfoespécies do gênero Nostoc foram encontradas em diferentes habitats do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Com base na morfologia, especialmente na formação e forma dos acinetos, no ciclo de vida e na ecologia, estas populações foram consideradas distintas de todos os demais taxons de Nostoc e são propostas como espécies novas: N. interbryum, N. viride, and N. alatosporum.

Brazilian aerophytic biotopes are almost completely unknown regarding to cyanobacterial flora. During the study of this special flora, three morphospecies of the genus Nostoc from different habitats in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, were found. Based on their morphology, especially by formation and shape of the akinetes, life cycles and ecology, these populations were considered distinct from all known taxa of Nostoc and are proposed as new species: N. interbryum, N. viride, and N. alatosporum.