To obtain more information on the distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in Thai and Malaysian waters, the surface sediment samples of 48 stations in the Gulf of Thailand and the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia were collected by M.V. SEAFDEC during the research cruise in September 1995 and repeated again in April 1996. Cysts of 20 species belonging to Goniolacoid, Tuberculodinioid and Peridinioid were found in the surface sediments collected from both cruises. Spiniferites spp. (=Gonyaulax spp.) were the dominant cyst in Thai and Malaysian waters. No cysts of harmful species were observed during this study

Lirdwitayaprasit, Thaithaworn

Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Training Department Institutional Repository

S4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-294-Distribution of Dinoflagellate Cysts in the Surface Sediment of the South China Sea,Area I: Gulf of Thailand and East Coast of Peninsular MalaysiaThaithaworn LirdwitayaprasitDepartment of Marine Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, ThailandABSTRACTTo obtain more information on the distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in Thai and Malaysianwaters, the surface sediment samples of 48 stations in the Gulf of Thailand and the east coast ofPeninsular Malaysia were collected by M.V. SEAFDEC during the research cruise in September1995 and repeated again in April 1996.  Cysts of 20 species belonging to Goniolacoid, Tuberculodinioidand Peridinioid were found in the surface sediments collected from both cruises.  Spiniferites spp. (=Gonyaulax spp.) were the dominant cyst in Thai and Malaysian waters.  No cysts of harmful specieswere observed during this study.IntroductionMarine dinoflagellates have been known to alternate between vegetative (motile cell) and  rest-ing stage (non-motile cell) in their life history.  The resting cysts are produced during a sexual phasein its life cycle.  A recent review by Anderson (1984) showed cysts have a variety of potential func-tions in the overall ecology of the dinoflagellates such as:1) seed population to initiate red tides2) a survival mechanism through environmental extremes3) agents for species dispersal4) means for genetic recombination5) direct sources of toxicity6) a factor in bloom terminationThe potential importance of benthic dinoflagellate cysts, Gonyaulax tamarensis (=Alexandriumtamarense) and G. excavata (= A. catenella), in initiating toxic shellfish was pointed out by Andersonand Wall (1978).  The importance of life cycle events in the population dynamics of G. tamarensisdemonstrated that the blooms of this species were initiated by excystment and terminated mainly byencystment (Anderson et al. 1983).  Cysts of Chattonella spp. also seem to play an important role inthe Seto Inland Sea, Japan (Imai and Itoh, 1987).  However, this important role of dinoflagellate cystsin Thai and East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia have not been studied.Concerning shellfish intoxication, it has been proposed that shellfish toxicity in the deep watermight be due to the ingestion of cysts of toxic species (Bourne, 1965).  Dale et al. (1978) foundnatural samples of Gonyaulax excavata cysts were ten times more toxic than the vegetative cells.  Thestudy of Lirdwitayaprasit et al. (1990) showed the cyst     production of Alexandrium catenella underlaboratory conditions was more toxic than the   vegetative cells.  However, very few studies havebeen carried out on the distribution of benthic dinoflagellate cysts in the surface sediments of ASEANwaters.  For example, the distribution of cyst of toxic dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense is littleknown in the waters of Thailand and the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.  The blooms of thisspecies were found for the first time in the northwestern coast of Borneo   (Brunei and Sabah      wa-ters), the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia in 1976, 1983 and 1994, respectively (Maclean, 1989 andWiadnyana et al., 1996).  The blooms reoccurred again some years later in some other places, but itS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-295-has been almost an annual feature in Manila Bay since 1991 (Bajarias and Relox, 1996).  There is apossibility that the vegetative cells and cysts of this toxic species could be dispersed into the Gulf ofThailand and the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the discharge of water and sediments fromships’ ballast tank, translocation of shellfish and water current.To provide baseline information on dinoflagellate ecology and also for the preparation of a redtide management programme, investigation of benthic cysts in these areas was carried out.Materials and MethodsThe surface sediment samples of 48 stations were collected using the gravity core samplerduring the collaborative research cruises from September 3 - October 3, 1995 and repeated againduring April 23 - May 23, 1996 by M.V. SEAFDEC.  The study area is shown in Fig. 1.Surface sediment samples of about 1 cm in thickness each were cut and kept in plastic bottleswith a small amount of seawater above the sediment.  The sample preparation for identification andquantitative analysis of the benthic cysts was performed using the method described by Matsuoka etal. (1989) while the main references used in this study for identification purposes were Matsuoka andFukuyo (1995), Matsuoka (1985 a, b, c) and Matsuoka (1987).  Both empty cysts and living wereidentified and counted.Results and DiscussionEnvironmental ConditionsSome physical parameters during the surveys were recorded and shown in Table1.  Theseparameters from the two cruises are almost identical and show no clear relationship with the averagetotal cyst densities.Abundance and DistributionA total of 20 species of the modern dinoflagellate cysts belonging to Goniolacoid,Tuberculodinioid and Peridinioid were found in this study and shown in Table 2.  The abundance anddistribution of cysts in both cruises was almost the same with the average cyst densities shown in Fig.2-21.  All cysts were found in small densities in the surface sediment samples of both Thai andMalaysian waters and most of them were found at depths of more than 30 metres.  There are twopossible reasons to explain this observation, one probably due to fishing activities, especially trawlfishing which stirs the surface sediment and resuspended the cysts into the water column, while theother could possibly be at depths of 0-30 metres, cysts were exposed to the optimal conditions forgermination including high temperature and high light intensity.Cysts of Spiniferites spp. were the dominant species in both the upper and lower parts of theGulf whereas cysts of Protoperidinium spp. were found almost entirely in the upper part of the Gulf(Stations 4 to 16).  In Malaysian waters only cysts of Spiniferites spp. were the dominant groupthroughout the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.  Bujak (1984) pointed out that protoperidiniaceandinoflagellate abundance is associated with high  diatom productivity and closely related to the richdissolved nutrients such as those present in the upwelling areas.  Matsuoka (1987) suggested that theareas dominated by protoperidiniacean cysts could be divided into two categories.  One is related tothe upwelling areas such as the regions be off Pisca, Peru, off West Africa and off Western SouthAfrica.  Another could probably be related to the enrichment of nutrients by rivers such as the Gulf ofMain, Dover Strait, Gulf of Mexico, etc.  The appearance of protoperidiniacean cysts in the upper partS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-296-Station       Depth(m) Temperature (oC) Surface Sediment Characteristic Total1 2 1 2 cysts/cm31 27 27 29.4 29.9 Brownish coarse sandy mud NO2 30 30 29.0 30.1 Brownish coarse sandy mud NO3 31 31 28.9 30.4 Brownish coarse sandy mud NO4 23 23 28.9 30.4 Brownish coarse sandy with shell fragments 365 34 34 29.1 30.0 Brownish coarse sandy with shell fragments 126 51 53 28.9 28.3 Brownish coarse sandy with shell fragments 847 54 53 28.9 29.7 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments NO8 40 40 28.8 29.7 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 129 36 37 28.7 28.5 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 3610 48 48 28.6 28.5 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 2411 54 53 28.6 28.5 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 3615 56 58 28.8 28.2 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 2416 50 50 28.8 27.5 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 7217 46 46 28.9 27.5 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 6018 61 61 28.1 28.0 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 6022 59 58 27.5 28.4 Brownish fine sandy mud with shell fragments 7223 34 34 28.7 28.5 Black silt clay with shell fragments 1224 29 29 29.2 29.2 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments NO25 40 40 27.9 29.1 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments 2429 32 33 28.8 29.2 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments 1230 24 24 29.2 29.8 Brown-yellowish silt clay  with shell fragments 2431 29 29 29.3 29.3 Brown-yellowish silt clay  with shell fragments NO32 55 55 27.7 28.3 Brown-yellowish silt clay  with shell fragments NO38 49 50 27.9 28.1 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments NO39 28 28 29.4 29.5 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 1240 22 22 29.4 30.1 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 1241 41 42 28.1 28.9 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments 1242 49 49 27.1 27.4 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments NO50 51 51 28.6 26.5 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments NO51 48 50 27.7 27.2 Brown fine sandy mud with shell fragments NO52 39 39 27.7 27.4 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 3653 53 53 28.8 27.1 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 2460 57 57 27.5 26.4 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 3661 52 52 27.2 26.9 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 6062 61 61 26.5 26.4 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 4863 64 64 25.5 26.1 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 9664 59 59 25.2 26.2 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 9665 66 66 24.2 26.0 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 4869 67 67 24.0 26.0 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 2470 39 39 27.2 26.9 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments NO71 35 35 28.3 27.2 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments NO72 55 54 25.7 26.2 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 2475 50 50 26.5 26.3 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 1276 25 26 28.4 28.0 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 2477 48 48 27.2 26.4 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 1278 65 66 24.2 26.0 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 3679 59 59 25.8 26.4 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 8480 34 34 28.5 27.0 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 1281 51 52 27.3 26.9 Brown coarse sandy mud with shell fragments 72Table 1.  Physical parameters and average total dinoflagellate cysts in the surface sediment samples fromthe Gulf of Thailand and East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia; 1 =  first cruise; 2 = second cruiseNO = no cyst was observedS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-297-Fig. 1. Area and Stations of Dinoflagellate Cyst Sampling in the Gulf of Thailand and the EastCoast of Peninsular Malaysiaof the Gulf of Thailand, where nutrient  concentrations and productivity of diatoms are high, as shownin this study, is consistent with the discussion above.Although cysts of harmful species have not been observed in this study, dinoflagellate cyststype E found at station 76 (Fig. 17), type F found at stations 5 and 39 (Fig. 18) and type H found atstation 65 (Fig. 20) were similar to cysts of the Alexandrium group.  This area has a possibility ofbeing contaminated by motile cells and cysts of toxic species from the discharge of water and sedi-ment from ships ballast tank during  transportation  into Thai and Malaysian waters.Conclusions and Recommendations1) This study provided more information on the distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in Thai andEast Coast of Peninsular Malaysia waters useful for a cyst and/or red tide monitoringprogramme.2) It is important to note that although cysts of toxic species have not been found in this studysome observed cysts were similar to the cyst from the genus Alexandrium, some species ofwhich were reported as the PSP (Paralytic  Shellfish  Poisoning) toxin producing organisms.3) Further investigation should be conducted on germination experiments to clarify the roles ofbenthic cysts in this area.1 2 3 45678910 11151617 18222324 25293031 32383940 41 42505152 53606162 6364 65697071 72757677 7879808199 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107Longitude1234567891011121314Lat itudeS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-298-Goniolacoid1.  Spiniferites cf. bulloideus Gonyaulax scrippsae / /2.  Spiniferites cf. ramosus Gonyaulax spinifera complex / /3.  Spiniferites sp. 1 Gonyaulax sp. 1 /4.  Operculodinium centrocarpum Protoceratium reticulatum / /5.  Lingulodinium machaerophorum Gonyaulax polyedra / /Tuberculodinioid6.  Tuberculodinium vancampoae Pyrophacus steinii / /Peridinioid7.  Trinoventedinium cf. capitatum Protoperidinium pentagonum /8. Protoperidinium sp. 1 / /9. Protoperidinium sp. 2 /10.  Stelladinium sp. Protoperidinium sp. 3 /11. Scrippsiella sp. /Unknown12.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type A / /13.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type B /14.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type C /15.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type D /16.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type E /17.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type  F /18.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type  G /19.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type  H /20.  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type  I /Table 2. Checklist of dinoflagellate cysts found in the surface sediment samples from theGulf of Thailand (T) and the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (M)       Peleontological name for cyst     Biological name for motile cell T MAcknowledgementsThe author would like to thank the staff of M.V. SEAFDEC, Miss Montira Piamphipmanus,Mrs. Jutamas Jivaluk and Dr. Charumas Chareonpanich for their assistance in collecting the 35 sur-face-sediment samples.  This study was supported by South East Asian Fisheries Development Center(SEAFDEC) through the Collaborative Research Programme between the SEAFDEC Training De-partment, Thailand and the Marine Fisheries Resources Development and Management Department,Malaysia.ReferencesAnderson, D. M. and Wall, D. 1978.  Potential importance of benthic cysts of Gonyaulax tamarensisand Gonyaulax excavata in initiating toxic dinoflagellate bloom.  J. Phycol., 14: 224-234.Anderson, D. M., Chisholm, S. W. and Watras, C. J. 1983.  Important of life cycle events in thepopulation dynamics of Gonyaulax tamarensis. Mar. Biol. 76: 179-189.S4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-299-Fig. 2. Distribution and abundance of Spinferites cf. bulloideusFig. 3. Distribution and abundance of Spinferites cf. ramosusS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-300-Fig. 4. Distribution and abundance of Spinferites sp. 1Fig. 5. Distribution and abundance of  Operculodinium centrocarpumS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-301-Fig. 6. Distribution and abundance of Lingulodinium machaerophorumFig. 7. Distribution and abundance of Tuberculodinium vancampoaeS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-302-Fig. 8. Distribution and abundance of  Trinovantedinium cf. capitatumFig. 9. Distribution and abundance of Protoperidinium sp. 1S4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-303-Fig. 10. Distribution and abundance of Protoperidinium sp. 2Fig. 11. Distribution and abundance of Protoperidinium sp. 3S4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-304-Fig. 12. Distribution and abundance of Scrippsiella sp.Fig. 13. Distribution and abundance of Dinoflagellate Cyst Type AS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-305-Fig. 14. Distribution and abundance of   Dinoflagellate Cyst TypeBFig. 15. Distribution and abundance of    Dinoflagellate Cyst Type CS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-306-Fig. 16. Distribution and abundance of  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type DFig. 17. Distribution and abundance of   Dinoflagellate Cyst Type ES4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-307-Fig. 18. Distribution and abundance of   Dinoflagellate Cyst Type FFig. 19. Distribution and abundance of Dinoflagellate Cyst Type GS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-308-Fig. 20. Distribution and abundance of  Dinoflagellate Cyst Type HFig. 21. Distribution and abundance of    Dinoflagellate Cyst Type IS4/FB7<THAITHAWORN>-309-Anderson, D. M. 1984.  Shellfish toxicity and dormant cysts in toxic dinoflagellate blooms. SeafoodToxins.  American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C. pp: 125-138.Bajarias, F. F. A and Relox, Jr. J. R. 1996.  Hydrological and Climatological parameters associatedwith the Pyrodinium blooms in Manila Bay, Philippines.  In Harmful and Toxic Algal Blooms.Yasumoto, T., Oshima, Y. and Fukuyo, Y. (eds.) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commis-sion of UNESCO, Paris. pp: 49-52.Bourne, N. 1965.  Paralytic shellfish poison in the sea scallops, Placopeten magellanicus, Gmelin, J.Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 22: 1137-1149.Bujak, J. P. 1980.  Dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs from the Ecocene Barton Beds of SouthernEnland:  In Dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs from the Ecocene Southern England, Bujak, J.P. (ed), Palaeontology (Special paper), 24: 36-91.Dale, B., Yentsch, C.M., Hurst, J. W. 1978.  Toxicity in resting cysts of the red tide dinoflagellateGonyaulax excavata from deeper water coastal sediments.  Science 201: 1223-1224.Imai, I. and Itoh, K. 1987. Annual life cycle of Chattonella spp., causative flagellates of noxious redtides in the Inland Sea of Japan. Mar. Biol. 94: 287-292.Lirdwitayaprasit, T., Nishio, S., Montain, S. and Okaichi, T. 1990.  The biochemical processes duringcyst formation in Alexandrium catenella.  In Toxic Marine Phytoplankton Granili, E.,Sandstrom, B., Edler, L. and Anderson, D. M. (eds.).  Elsevier, New York pp: 294-299.Maclean, J. L. 1989.  An overview of Pyrodinium red tides in the western Pacific, In Biology, Epide-miology and management of Pyrodinium red tides, Hallegraeff, G. M. and Maclean, J.L.(eds.).  ICLARM Contribution No. 585 pp: 1-7.Matsuoka, K. 1985 a.  Archeopyle structure in modern gymnodinialean dinoflagellate cysts.  Reviewof Palaeobatany and Palynology, 44: 217-231.Matsuoka, K. 1985 b.  Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts from surface sediments of Nagasaki Bayand Senzaki Bay, West Japan Buil. Fac. Lib. Art. Nagasaki Univ., Nat. Sci. Vol. 25, No. 2, pp:21-115.Matsuoka, K. 1985 c.  Cyst and thecate forms of Pyrophacus steinii (Sehiller) Wall et Dale, 1971.Trans. Proc. Palaeont. Soc. Japan, N. S. No. 140, pp: 240-262.Matsuoka, K. and Fukuyo, Y. 1986.  Cyst and motile morphology of a colonial dinoflagellatePheopolykrikos hartmannii (Zimmermann) comb. Nov. J. Plank. Res. 8(4): 811.Matsuoka, K. 1987.  Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts from surface sediments of Akkeshi Bay andLake Soroma, North Japan. Bull. Fac. Lib. Art. Nagasaki Univ. Nat. Sci. Vol. 28, No. 1, pp:123.Matsuoka, K., Fukuyo, Y. and Anderson, D. M. 1989.  Methods for dinoflagellate cysts studies.  InBiology, Epidemilogy and Management of Pyrodinium Red tides.  Hallegraeff, G.M. andMaclean, J. L. (eds.) ICLARM Contribution No. 585 pp: 231-234.Matsuoka and Fukuyo, Y. 1995.  Manual for modern dinoflagella cyst study.  IOC-DANIDA Trainingcourse on the taxonomy and biology of harmful marine microalgae, University of Copenhagen,Botanical Institute 31 July - 11 August 1995. 59 pp.Wiadnyana, N. N., Sidabutar, T., Matsuoka, K., Ochi, T., Kodama, M. and Fukuyo, Y. 1996.  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Distribution of Dinoflagellate Cysts in the Surface Sediment of the South China Sea, Area I: Gulf of Thailand and East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

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