Abstract
During a phytoplankton survey, non-motile (cyst-like) cells were isolated and cultured from the tropical Mexican Pacific, which belong to the thecate dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum Nézan et Chomérat, recently described from the Mediterranean and recently identified as a source of pinnatoxins in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Motile cells and putative cysts were studied by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The most characteristic features of the species agree with a previous description: (i) large and conspicuous apical pore, which extrudes mucilaginous material; (ii) polygonal and striated theca; (iii) ventral, sigmoid canal running from the apical pore to the anterior margin of the cingulum; (iv) three connected anterior intercalary plates; and (v) production of spherical cyst-like cells. The species is photosynthetic, containing many small greenish-brown chloroplasts. The tabulation of the species is Po, X, 4′, 3a, 7″, 6c, 5s?, 5′″, 2″″. Organic cyst-like cells were nearly spherical to subspherical, solitary, or aggregations linked by mucilaginous material; they are considered to be a stage in the life cycle of the species. Vulcanodinium rugosum is a new record in the study area. The ecology and the geographical distribution of the species are also discussed.
Support for field activities was provided by S. Àlvarez-Hernández (UAM-Iztapalapa). SEM observations were possible thanks to Y. Hornelas (ICMyL, UNAM). Dr. Nicolas Chomérat (Station Biologique, IFREMER) provided useful comments of an early draft. Three anonymous reviewers contributed significantly to improve the first version.
References
Esqueda-Lara, K., D.U. Hernández-Becerril and E.G. Robles-Jarero. 2005. Annual cycle of microphytoplankton from coasts of the tropical Mexican Pacific. Cah. Biol. Mar. 46: 335–345.Search in Google Scholar
Esqueda-Lara, K., D. Parra-Toriz and D.U. Hernández-Becerril. 2013. Morphology and taxonomy of Dinophysis species of the section Hastata (Dinoflagellata), including the description of Dinophysis conjuncta sp. nov., from the Mexican marine waters. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK 93: 1187–1202.10.1017/S0025315412001750Search in Google Scholar
Faust, M.A. 1996. Morphology and ecology of the marine benthic dinoflagellate Scrippsiella subsalsa (Dinophyceae). J. Phycol. 32: 669–675.10.1111/j.0022-3646.1996.00669.xSearch in Google Scholar
Faust, M.A. and K.A. Steidinger. 1998. Bysmatrum gen. nov. (Dinophyceae) and three new combinations for benthic scrippsielloid species. Phycologia 37: 47–52.10.2216/i0031-8884-37-1-47.1Search in Google Scholar
Gottschling, M., S. Soehner, C. Zinssmeister, U. John, J. Plötner, M. Schweikert, K. Aligizaki and M. Elbrächter. 2012. Delimitation of the Thoracosphaeraceae (Dinophyceae), including the calcareous dinoflagellates, based on large amounts of ribosomal RNA sequence data. Protist 163: 15–24.Search in Google Scholar
Guillard, R. and P.E. Hargraves. 1993. Stichochrysis immobilis is a diatom, not a Chysophyte. Phycologia 32: 234–236.Search in Google Scholar
Hernández-Becerril, D.U. 2003. Diversidad del fitoplancton marino de México. Un acercamiento actual. In: (M.T. Barreiro-Güemes, M.E. Meave del Castillo, M. Signoret-Poillon and M.G. Figueroa-Torres, eds.) Planctología Mexicana. Sociedad Mexicana de Planctología, A. C., México. pp. 1–18.Search in Google Scholar
Hernández-Becerril, D.U. and E. Bravo-Sierra. 2004a. New records on planktonic dinoflagellates (Dinophyceae) from the Mexican Pacific Ocean. Bot. Mar. 47: 417–423.10.1515/BOT.2004.051Search in Google Scholar
Hernández-Becerril, D.U. and E. Bravo-Sierra. 2004b. Observations on a rare planktonic dinoflagellate, Dinofurcula cf. ultima (Dinophyceae), from the Mexican Pacific. Phycologia 43: 341–345.Search in Google Scholar
Hernández-Becerril, D.U., R. Alonso-Rodríguez, C. Àlvarez-Góngora, S.A. Barón-Campis, G. Ceballos-Corona, J. Herrera-Silveira, M.E. Meave del Castillo, N. Juárez-Ruíz, F. Merino-Virgilio, A. Morales-Blake, J.L. Ochoa, E. Orellana-Cepeda, C. Ramírez-Camarena and R. Rodríguez-Salvador. 2007. Toxic and harmful marine phytoplankton and microalgae (HABs) in Mexican Coasts. J. Environ. Sci. Health Part A 42: 1349–1363.10.1080/10934520701480219Search in Google Scholar PubMed
Hernández-Becerril, D.U., J.G.A. Ceballos-Corona, K. Esqueda-Lara, M.A. Tovar-Salazar and D. León-Álvarez. 2008. Marine planktonic dinoflagellates of the order Dinophysiales (Dinophyta) from coasts of the tropical Mexican Pacific, including two new species of the genus Amphisolenia. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK 88: 1–15.Search in Google Scholar
Hernández-Becerril, D.U., M.C. Rodríguez-Palacio and C. Lozano-Ramírez. 2010. Morphology of two bloom-forming or potentially toxic marine dinoflagellates from the Mexican Pacific, Heterocapsa pygmaea and Protoceratium reticulatum (Dinophyceae). Cryptog. Algol. 31: 245–254.Search in Google Scholar
Hernández-Becerril, D.U., S.A. Barón-Campis and S. Escobar-Morales. 2012. A new record of Azadinium spinosum (Dinoflagellata) from the tropical Mexican Pacific. Rev. Biol. Mar. Oceanogr. 47: 553–557.10.4067/S0718-19572012000300016Search in Google Scholar
Horiguchi, T. and M. Chihara. 1983. Scrippsiella hexapraecingula sp. nov. (Dinophyceae), a tide pool dinoflagellate from the Northwest Pacific. Bot. Mag., Tokyo 96: 351–358.Search in Google Scholar
Jeong, H.A., S.H. Jang, N.S. Kang, Y.D. Yoo, M.J. Kim, K.H. Lee, E.Y. Yoon, È. Potvin, Y.J. Hwang, J.I. Kim and K.A. Seong. 2012. Molecular characterization and morphology of the photosynthetic dinoflagellate Bysmatrum caponii from two solar saltons in western Korea. Ocean Sci. J. 47: 1–18.10.1007/s12601-012-0001-ySearch in Google Scholar
Nézan, E. and N. Chomérat. 2011. Vulcanodinium rugosum gen. et sp. nov. (Dinophyceae), un nouveau dinoflagellé marin de la côte méditerranéenne française. Cryptog. Algol. 32: 3–18.Search in Google Scholar
Okolodkov, Y. and I. Gárate-Lizárraga. 2006. An annotated checklist of dinoflagellates (Dinophyceae) from the Mexican Pacific. Acta Bot. Mex. 74: 1–154.10.21829/abm74.2006.1008Search in Google Scholar
Rhodes, L., K. Smith, A. Selwood, P. McNabb, R. van Ginkel, P. Holland and R. Munday. 2010. Production of pinnatoxins by the peridinoid dinoflagellates isolated from Northland, New Zealand. Harmful Algae 9: 384–389.Search in Google Scholar
Rhodes, L., K. Smith, A. Selwood, P. McNabb, S. Molenaar, R. Munday, C. Wilkinson and G. Hallegraeff. 2011a. Production of pinnatoxins E, F and G by scrippsielloid dinoflagellates isolated from Franklin Harbour, South Australia. New Zealand J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 45: 703–709.10.1080/00288330.2011.586041Search in Google Scholar
Rhodes, L., K. Smith, A. Selwood, P. McNabb, R. Munday, S. Suda, S. Molenaar and G. Hallegraeff. 2011b. Dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum identified as the causative organism of pinnatoxins in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Phycologia 50: 624–628.Search in Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Palacio M.C., C. Lozano-Ramírez, S. Álvarez-Hernández and G. De Lara-Isassi. 2007. First record of harmful algal bloom of Gymnodinium catenatum in Michoacán coast, Mexico. Fourth European Phycological Congress, Oviedo, Spain. Programme and Book of Abstracts. Taylor & Francis Group, UK. pp. 111.Search in Google Scholar
Sekida, S., T. Horiguchi and K. Okuda. 2001. Development of the cell covering in the dinoflagellate Scrippsiella hexapraecingula (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae). Phycol. Res. 49: 163–176.10.1111/j.1440-1835.2001.tb00247.xSearch in Google Scholar
Smith, K.F., L. Rhodes, S. Suda and A.I. Selwood. 2011. A dinoflagellate producer of pinnatoxin G, isolated from sub-tropical Japanese waters. Harmful Algae 10: 702–705.Search in Google Scholar
Steidinger, K. and K. Tangen. 1997. Dinoflagellates. In: (C.R. Tomas, ed.) Identifying marine phytoplankton.Academic Press, San Diego, CA. pp. 387–598.Search in Google Scholar
Ten-Hage, L., J. Quod, J. Turquet and A. Couté. 2001. Bysmatrum granulosum sp. nov., a new benthic dinoflagellate from the southwestern Indian Ocean. Eur. J. Phycol. 36: 129–135.Search in Google Scholar
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
