Puncticulata versiformis sp Nov and cyclotella kathmanduensis sp Nov (Bacillariophyta), new fossil species from Middle Pleistocene lacustrine sediments, Kathmandu, Nepal Himalaya

New fossil species, Puncticulata versiformis sp. nov. and Cyclotella kathmanduensis sp. nov., are described from lacustrine sediments in the Kathmandu Basin on the southern slope of the Nepal Himalaya. They were dominant in the Middle Pleistocene. Both LM and SEM observations reveal their unique morphological features. Puncticulata versiformis is characterized by (1) various valve outlines (circular, elliptical, or oval), (2) a tangentially undulate central area, (3) a complex alveolar structure composed of three kinds of costae (thick costae, thin costae, and thin and short costae), (4) well-developed spines (Y-shaped and tapering) located on one side of the valve face/mantle area junction, and (5) a valvocopula with an extremely undulate margin. The species-specific feature of C. kathmanduensis is the presence of two kinds of alveolate zones in a single valve: type-1 zone composed only of normal costae, and type-2 zone composed of both normal costae and recessed costae bearing fultoportulae. Changes in valve ornamentation occur in these two species from initial valves to vegetative valves. In P. versiformis, the arrangement of areolae with internal domed cribra and fultoportulae in the central area changes from radial rows in the initial valve to groups in the vegetative valve. In the initial valve of C. kathmanduensis, the type-1 alveolate zone is generally absent.