Morphology and phylogenetic affinities ofThecadinium foveolatumsp. nov. (Dinophyceae: Thecadiniaceae), a new marine benthic dinoflagellate from the West of Scotland

Abstract

A new chloroplast-containing species of the sand-dwelling benthic dinoflagellate Thecadinium was isolated and cultured from a single cell collected from shallow waters of the marine Loch Ewe in North West Scotland. The cultured cells are described by light and scanning electron microscopy and the genetic affinities examined by comparison of ribosomal RNA gene sequences. Thecadinium foveolatum Bolch sp. nov. is heavily armoured with thecal plates that are ornamented with evenly distributed pores and contains numerous globular, dark golden-brown chloroplasts. Cells are broadly ovoid and slightly laterally compressed, with a descending cingulum displaced approximately half of the cell width. The thick thecal plates, numerous pores and the strongly displaced cingulum clearly differentiate this species from the only other chloroplastcontaining species, T. kofoidii, and the remaining non-photosynthetic Thecadinium species described. Analysis of largesubunit rDNA sequences of Thecadinium foveolatum and other members of the Peridiniphycidae indicate that this new species is allied to the gonyaulacalean lineage rather than the peridinialean taxa included in the analyses.

Madanidinium loirii gen. et sp. nov.(Dinophyceae), a new marine benthic dinoflagellate from Martinique Island, Eastern Caribbean

“…In Plagiodinium belizeanum, the epitheca is atypical, very small and slightly inclined to the ventral side (Faust & Balech, 1993), differing from M. loirii. The left-handed displacement of the cingulum in M. loirii is peculiar and reminiscent of that of Thecadinium yashimaense (Bolch & Campbell, 2004;Hoppenrath et al, 2004Hoppenrath et al, , 2005Yoshimatsu et al, 2004), and also of the planktonic taxa Thecadiniopsis tasmanica and Pseudothecadinium campbellii (Croome et al, 1987;Hoppenrath & Selina, 2006). This is the reverse situation to the benthic genus Cabra where the epitheca is higher on the left side than on the right lateral side.…”

Morphology and genetic affinities of a novel Chattonella isolate (Raphidophyceae) isolated from Iran’s south coast (Oman Sea)

“…Phylogenetic structure was examined and tested by the randomisation tests and probability tables (Hillis and Huelsenbeck, 1992). Neighbour-joining (NJ) trees were constructed with the minimum evolutionary (ME) model using logdet distances (ME-LgD) and the mean distance metric (Bolch and Campbell, 2004). Maximum parsimony (MP) analyses used the branch and bound search algorithm to find the most parsimonious trees.…”

NOMENCLATURAL NOTE ON A THECADINIUM SPECIES (DINOPHYCEAE, GONYAULACALES), WHICH WAS DESCRIBED AS NEW INDEPENDENTLY THREE TIMES WITHIN TWO MONTHS1

“…Whether this morphospecies is also genetically identical in all parts of the world should be investigated in the future. At present, molecular genetic data are available only for the taxa described as Thecadinium mucosum (small subunit, Hoppenrath et al 2004) and T. foveolatum (large subunit, Bolch and Campbell 2004).…”

“…During 2004, apparently the same marine sand‐dwelling dinoflagellate was described as new three times in separate publications (Bolch and Campbell 2004, Hoppenrath et al 2004, Yoshimatsu et al 2004). All descriptions are valid under the ICBN, providing a Latin diagnosis and a holotype/iconotype.…”