Dinoflagellate cysts in recent marine sediments from the east coast of Russia

Abstract

Forty-two different dinoflagellate cyst types were found in recent sediment samples collected between July 1999-September 2002 from 44 stations along the eastern coast of Russia. This represents the first survey of recent dinoflagellate cysts in Russian marine waters. Forty cysts were identified to the species level, representing 17 genera. The most common cysts were those of ellipsoidal Alexandrium spp., Protoceratium reticulatum, Gonyaulax spp., Polykrikos kofoidii, P. schwartzii, Protoperidinium americanum, P. minutum, P. conicoides, P. subinerme, P. conicum and Scrippsiella trochoidea. Fifteen of the dinoflagellate species have not previously been recorded as motile cells in Russian marine waters: Alexandrium cf. minutum, Cochlodinium cf. polykrikoides, Diplopsalis cf. lebourae, Fragilidium mexicanum, Gonyaulax elongata, G. membranaceae, Gymnodinium cf. catenatum, Pentapharsodinium dalei, P. tyrrhenicum, Protoperidinium americanum, P. cf. avellanum, Scrippsiella cf. lachrymosa, S. cf. precaria, S. cf. rotunda and Warnowia cf. rosea. Cysts of the potentially toxic species Alexandrium cf. minutum, A. tamarense and Gymnodinium cf. catenatum were also found in this survey. Ellipsoidal Alexandrium tamarense type cysts were widely distributed and dominated many localities in the study area. These data suggest that additional cyst surveys should be conducted in areas of the eastern Russian coastline not yet investigated, and that the potential for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxicity as a result of blooms of toxic species may be more widespread than previously documented.

Protoceratium reticulatum (Dinophyceae) in the austral Southwestern Atlantic and the first report on YTX-production in shelf waters of Argentina

“…The motile stage of P. reticulatum has a wide geographical distribution that comprises global coastal waters including the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and the Mexican Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast of North America, the east coast of Russia, New Zealand and South Africa, among other areas (e.g. Braarud, 1945;Reinecke, 1967;Steidinger and Williams, 1970;Herná ndez-Becerril, 1988;Hansen et al, 1996Hansen et al, /1997MacKenzie et al, 1998;Hä llfors, 2004;Kim et al, 2004;Orlova et al, 2004). In South America, the species has been recorded in coastal waters of Argentina, Chile and Brazil (see Balech, 1988;Seguel et al, 2005;Odebrecht, 2010).…”

First Records of Dinoflagellates Alexandrium margalefi Balech, 1994 and A. tamutum Montresor, Beran et John, 2004 in the Seas of the Russian Far East

“…However, surface sediment samples collected simultaneously with plankton samples in Aniva Bay (Sea of Okhotsk) contained living cysts of Alexandrium cf. minutum [19]. A more precise identification of those cysts was not possible as they did not germinate.…”

Mapping the Distribution of Cysts from the Toxic Dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides in Bloom-Prone Estuaries by a Novel Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Assay

“…Given the vast morphological differences reported for Cochlodinium cysts in sediments (6,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) and in culture (10,27,28) and the need to create maps of these cyst beds for fishery management (among other) purposes, the development of an accurate (40) detected C. polykrikoides in sediment samples using real-time PCR, the detection of vegetative cells or DNA residues of vegetative cells could not be excluded. The newly developed FISH assay reported here combines molecular and microscopic methods to ensure the accurate identification of C. polykrikoides resting cysts.…”

“…Many prior studies have reported the identification of resting cysts of C. polykrikoides or Cochlodinium sp. from sediments (6,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), but these studies have generally identified the cysts using previously published micrographs from Fukuyo (35) …”