Morphology of Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae) in the Baltic Sea and in Chesapeake Bay: Comparison of Cell Shapes and Thecal Ornamentation
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S. Pertola
Abstract
Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae) is a red tide-forming toxin-producing planktonic microalga from coastal waters worldwide. In this study, the morphology of natural and cultured populations of P. minimum was examined to investigate whether the species can be split morphologically into more species. The diacritical features of cell shape and size, ornamentation of thecal plates, and architecture of the apical pore area and intercalary band were studied from scanning and light micrographs. Cell size of P. minimum is similar in Baltic Sea samples and a culture from the Chesapeake Bay, USA. Cell shape varies from triangular to oval-round including intermediate forms in valve view. The thecal surface is covered by evenly distributed short spines, while the circular thecal pores are mainly situated near the valve margin. The intercalary band is rim-like, striated and covered with short evenly distributed spines. The architecture of the apical pore area is ornate and more complex than previously pointed out. It is V-shaped, located on the right valve in a shallow depression and accommodates a large elongated flagellar pore, and a small round auxiliary pore. Four distinct apical features are present: next to the auxiliary pore there is a curved collar, and adjacent to the flagellar pore arise a forked double tooth, a short single tooth, and a ridged edge near the left valve margin. Our study suggests that the ornamentation of the apical pore area of P. minimum is independent of cell shape or growth place, and it is considered a stable morphological character of this cosmopolitan morphospecies.
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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- Morphology of Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae) in the Baltic Sea and in Chesapeake Bay: Comparison of Cell Shapes and Thecal Ornamentation
- Ordinal Placement of Selected Marine Dothideomycetes Inferred from Small Subunit Ribosomal DNA Sequence Analysis
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Articles in the same Issue
- To Gerald T. Boalch, with Our Gratitude
- Growth and Survival of the Invasive Green Alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in Tide Pools on a Rocky Shore in Nova Scotia
- Structure of the Macroalgal Community Associated with the Seagrass Halodule wrightii Ascherson in the Abrolhos Marine National Park, Brazil
- The Life History of Lophothamnion hirtum (Hook. f. et Harv.) Womersley (Rhodophyta, Ceramiaceae) from Southern New Zealand
- Gametangium-like Structures as Propagation Buds in Codium edule Silva (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta)
- Ultrastructural Study of Zoosporogenesis in the Siphonous Green Alga Derbesia tenuissima (Chlorophyta)
- Schimmelmannia venezuelensis sp. nov. (Gloiosiphoniaceae, Rhodophyta) from Venezuela
- Fatty Acids of Species in the Genus Codium
- Rheological Characteristics of Fucoidan Isolated from Commercially Cultured Cladosiphon okamuranus
- Effects of Light, Salinity and Inorganic Nitrogen on Cell Growth and Spirolide Production in the Marine Dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Balech et Tangen
- Morphology of Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae) in the Baltic Sea and in Chesapeake Bay: Comparison of Cell Shapes and Thecal Ornamentation
- Ordinal Placement of Selected Marine Dothideomycetes Inferred from Small Subunit Ribosomal DNA Sequence Analysis
- Meetings
