Ventimolina stellata gen. et sp. nov. (Haptophyta, Papposphaeraceae) from Warm Water Regions

It has been known for some time that the distinctive polar weakly calcified coccolithophores are also present in samples from lower latitudes. While polar species may actually have a geographic range that vastly extends beyond the polar realms, it is often the case that the warm water regions contribute species that can be allocated to genera previously described based on polar material. We are currently in the process of formally dealing with the warm water species diversity affiliated with the family Papposphaeraceae. In this paper we describe a new genus and species Ventimolina stellata based on material from the Andaman Sea (type locality) and the NW Mediterranean.