Benthic microbial mats in the glacial-fed melt- water streams are hotspots of productivity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica. Benthic diatoms are common in these mats and the[45 primarily endemic taxa represent the most diverse group of eukaryotes in the MDV. In this harsh polar desert, streams are thermally dynamic with daily water temperatures varying 6–9 °C and daily maximum temperatures as high as 15 °C. Stream temperature may play a role in determining growth rates and survival strategies. To understand taxon-specific adaptations to their environment, we measured the growth rates of unialgal cultures of four diatom taxa (Psammothidium papilio, Hantzschia abundans, Hantzschia amphioxys, and Hantzschia amphioxys f. muelleri) under three temperature conditions (7.6, 10, and 15 °C) that were representative of maximum daily stream temperatures. We found that P. papilio exhibited a constant growth rate across the full temperature range; this species is most common in streams that begin to flow early in the summer and with less variable thermal regimes. Growth rates for H. abundans were greatest at 15 °C, but showed a non-linear relationship with temperature. H. amphioxys f. muellerigrew faster than the other taxa studied and thrived at 10 °C. Hantzschia amphioxys grew only at the two lower temperatures. These results aligned with the observed relationships between each taxon’s relative abundance and stream temperatures in the long-term record maintained by the MDV Long-Term Ecological Research program. Overall, our observations suggest that differences in thermal optima may be one factor contributing to and maintaining the diversity of benthic diatom flora in the MDV.