Geometric Morphometrics of Bilateral Asymmetry in Eunotia bilunaris (Eunotiales, Bacillariophyceae) as a Tool for the Quantitative Assessment of Teratogenic Deviations in Frustule Shapes

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have conducted a thorough literature review, undertaken a rigorous piece of data collection and have analyze information accurately. The abstract is representative and data are original and not yet published. The result interpretations are well justified, documented, and discussion and
conclusions are supported by the results. The references are cited appropriate.

It was a pleasure to read this manuscript. I wish the author of the best.

Author Response

The authors have conducted a thorough literature review, undertaken a rigorous piece of data collection and have analyze information accurately. The abstract is representative and data are original and not yet published. The result interpretations are well justified, documented, and discussion and conclusions are supported by the results. The references are cited appropriate.

It was a pleasure to read this manuscript. I wish the author of the best.

Response: Thank you very much for your positive assessment of the study. We hope that it will be a useful addition to the scientific literature.

Reviewer 2 Report

Very interesting data about using bilateral asymmetry for assessing the teratology of diatoms are presented. The authors conducted a detailed analysis of geometric morphometrics of Eunotia bilunaris, which is distributed both in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The authors studied the modern literature about the previous investigations on similar topics. It is necessary to note, that the manuscript is very well written and almost ready for publication.

I recommend the manuscript for publication with minor revision.

I have only some recommendations for the authors. Eunotia bilunaris morphotypes were recorded from different habitats around the world, including epilithic sites and volcano soils. A more detailed description of the species ecology allows you to stress the importance of your study. You can also try to make suggestions about other environmental factors causing teratogenic deviations.

Author Response

1) Very interesting data about using bilateral asymmetry for assessing the teratology of diatoms are presented. The authors conducted a detailed analysis of geometric morphometrics of Eunotia bilunaris, which is distributed both in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The authors studied the modern literature about the previous investigations on similar topics. It is necessary to note, that the manuscript is very well written and almost ready for publication. I recommend the manuscript for publication with minor revision.

Response: Thank you a lot for this positive assessment. We hope that the presented analysis will provide a basis for the subsequent studies scoring the severity of these teratogenic deviations in eunotioid diatoms.

2) I have only some recommendations for the authors. Eunotia bilunaris morphotypes were recorded from different habitats around the world, including epilithic sites and volcano soils. A more detailed description of the species ecology allows you to stress the importance of your study.

Response: Thank you for this suggestion. Following this point we supplemented a new part in the "Introduction" of the revised version that includes a more detailed information on distribution of the genus (l. 89-91). A new reference (no. 28) was also supplemented and the subsequent references re-numbered throughout the text and in the list of references.

3) You can also try to make suggestions about other environmental factors causing teratogenic deviations.

Response: The final part of the "Discussion" was supplemented accordingly (l. 353-354).