Taxonomy and identification of the armored dinoflagellate genus Heterocapsa (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae)

The armored dinoflagellate genus Heterocapsa is composed of relatively small species, including a species responsible for harmful red tides, H. circularisquama. Some Heterocapsa species such as H. rotundata and H. triquetra have been well documented as red tide-forming species, but are not recognized as causing harmful effects. Following sequential shellfish mass mortalities in the coastal waters of western Japan due to H. circularisquama red tides, this species has attracted considerable interest. Many properties of this species, such as its distribution and growth characteristics, have been investigated to better understand the mechanisms involved in harmful red tide formation. Related to the need for unambiguous identification of H. circularisquama, several unidentified (or undescribed) Heterocapsa species, which must be distinguished from the harmful taxon, have been detected sympatrically in regions where H. circularisquama blooms occur. However, the taxonomic affiliation of these Heterocapsa species have not yet been determined because several characteristics of Heterocapsa (e.g. body scale ultrastructure) have not yet been reported from all described species due to the changing taxonomic criteria. After the taxonomic ambiguities in this genus were resolved, cellular and body scale morphology of Heterocapsa were reinvestigated and several new species were described. In the present paper, the taxonomic history and morphological characters of the genus Heterocapsa are summarized

Resting Cyst Distribution and Molecular Identification of the Harmful Dinoflagellate Margalefidinium polykrikoides (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae) in Lampung Bay, Sumatra, Indonesia

Margalefidinium polykrikoides, an unarmored dinoflagellate, was suspected to be the causative agent of the harmful algal blooms – associated with massive fish mortalities – that have occurred continually in Lampung Bay, Indonesia, since the first bloom event in October 2012. In this study, after examination of the morphology of putative M. polykrikoides-like cysts sampled in bottom sediments, cyst bed distribution of this harmful species was explored in the inner bay. Sediment samples showed that resting cysts, including several morphotypes previously reported as M. polykrikoides, were most abundant on the northern coast of Lampung Bay, ranging from 20.6 to 645.6 cysts g-1 dry sediment. Molecular phylogeny inferred from LSU rDNA revealed that the so-called Mediterranean ribotype was detected in the sediment while M. polykrikoides motile cells, four-cell chain forming in bloom conditions, belonged to the American-Malaysian ribotype. Moreover, hyaline cysts, exclusively in the form of four-cell chains, were also recorded. Overall, these results unequivocally show that the species M. polykrikoides is abundantly present, in the form of vegetative cells, hyaline and resting cysts in an Indonesian area

A bloom of Karlodinium australe (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae) associated with mass mortality of cage-cultured fishes in West Johor Strait, Malaysia

A recent (February 2014) mass mortality of fishes was observed in the cage-farming region of the West Johor Strait of Malaysia, involving over four different species of cultured fishes, numbering ∼50,000 fish. A field investigation at six stations along the West Johor Strait collected water samples and examined for the presence of harmful species. Dead fishes were collected for necropsy. The phytoplankton composition was dominated by a species of Karlodinium, at a considerably high cell concentration (0.31–2.34 × 106 cells l−1), and constituting 68.8–98.6% of the phytoplankton relative abundance at all stations. Detailed morphological assessment by light and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the species was Karlodinium australe de Salas, Bolch and Hallegraeff. This was supported by molecular evidence of the nuclear encoded large subunit ribosomal gene (LSU rDNA) and the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) via single-cell PCR. The sequences of LSU rDNA yielded 3.6–4.0% divergence when compared to the sister taxon, K. armiger; and >6.5% when compared to other Karlodinium species. Fish necropsy showed symptoms similar to those affected by karlotoxin ichthyotoxins. This is the first report of a mass mortality of cage-cultured and wild fishes attributed to the unarmored dinoflagellate K. australe

A new diplopsalid species Oblea acanthocysta sp. nov. (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae)

Oblea acanthocysta of the diplopsalid group is described as a new species from Omura Bay, West Japan. The motile cells are subspherical, have a large sulcal list at the left margin, and are characterized by the plate formula, Po, X, 3′, 1a, 6″, 3c+t, 6s?, 5?, 2″″. The species resembles Oblea torta in shape and plate distribution, but is smaller and differs in the shape of plate 1′ and position of plate 1a. Resting cysts of O. acanthocysta are spherical and pale brown in color, possess many hollow acuminate spines, and have a theropylic archeopyle. In the SSU rRNA gene sequences of three cells of O. acanthocysta and two cells of O. torta, no intraspecific base substitutions were detected within either species. Based on phylogenetic analyses, the O. acanthocysta clade is included in the diplopsalids clade together with other diplopsalid species such as O. torta, Diplopsalis lebourae, Diplopsalopsis bomba and Gotoius excentricus. The sequences of O. acanthocysta are different from those of O. torta in 154 base pair substitutions, but O. acanthocysta and O. torta have a very close phylogenetic relationship

On the presence of Heterocapsa pygmaea A.R.Loebl. (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae) in the northern Levantine basin (eastern Mediterranean) Kuzey Levantin Baseninde (Doǧu Akdeniz) Heterocapsa pygmaea A.R.Loebl nin (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae) Varliǧi Üzerine

The presence of the dinoflagellate Heterocapsa pygmaea A.R.Loebl. in bloom quantity is reported for the first time from Mersin Bay (northern Levantine basin, eastern Mediterranean). Further, it is the only species of the family Heterocapsaceae reported from Turkish seas (southern Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, Aegean Sea, and north-eastern Mediterranean). Our observations on the fine structure of the body scale of the specimen suggested that the scale morphology is identical to that of H. pygmaea

Ultrastructure and Systematics of Two New Species of Dinoflagellate, Paragymnodinium Asymmetricum sp. nov. and Paragymnodinium Inerme sp. nov. (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae)(1)

The genus Paragymnodinium currently includes two species, P. shiwhaense and P. stigmaticum, that are characterized by mixotrophic nutrition and the possession of nematocysts. In this study, two new dinoflagellates belonging to this genus were described based on observations using LM, SEM, and TEM together with a molecular analysis. Cells of P. asymmetricum sp. nov., isolated from Nha Trang Beach, Vietnam, were 7.9-12.6 mu m long and 4.7-9.0 mu m wide. The species showed no evidence of feeding behavior and was able to sustain itself phototrophically. Paragymnodinium asymmetricum shared many features with P. shiwhaense, including presence of nematocysts, absence of an eyespot, and a planktonic lifestyle, but was clearly distinguished by the asymmetric shape of the hyposome, possession of a single chloroplast, and its nutritional mode. Cells of P. inerme sp. nov., isolated from Jogashima, Kanagawa Pref, Japan, were 15.3-23.7 mu m long and 10.9-19.6 mu m wide. This species also showed no evidence of feeding behavior. Paragymnodinium inerme was similar to cells of P. shiwhaense in shape and planktonic lifestyle, but its nutritional mode was different. The presence of incomplete nematocysts was also a unique feature. A phylogenetic analysis inferred from concatenated SSU and LSU rDNA sequences recovered the two dinoflagellates in a robust clade with Paragymnodinium spp., within the clade of Gymnodinium sensu stricto. This evidence, together with their morphological similarities, made it reasonable to conclude that these two dinoflagellates are new species of Paragymnodinium