Reported in Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin Newsletter, The Potomac News Reservoir, June 18, 2026
Research led by the Christova Lab at George Mason University recently discovered a novel algae species in the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River. This mat-forming benthic freshwater cyanobacterium is described based on morphological, phylogenetic and genomic evidence in the recently published paper, Limnofasciculus delicatus (Coleofasciculaceae, Coleofasciculales), a Novel Mat-Forming Cyanobacterium From Shenandoah River, Virginia, USA, in the journal Environmental Microbiology Reports.
“This is one example of many where we are discovering, or even rediscovering, species in the Potomac basin. It just goes to show there are things to find in our own backyard, we just have to look for it,” explains Gordon “Mike” Selckmann, ICPRB’s associate director of aquatic habitats and a co-author on the paper.