The first record of the epiphytic dinoflagellate Coolia malayensis from Russian Pacific waters
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Marina S. Selina
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Kseniya V. Efimova
Abstract
The potentially toxic dinoflagellate genera Gambierdiscus, Ostreopsis, Coolia, previously considered inhabitants of the tropical and subtropical zones, have expanded their ranges to temperate latitudes in recent decades, presumably due to ongoing global warming. Coolia species are widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. Until recently, the northernmost known point of the Coolia distribution range in the Pacific region has been the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. In this paper, we report, for the first time, the presence of the genus Coolia in Pacific waters of Russia. This is also the first finding of Coolia in waters with below-zero winter temperatures. The morphology of the Russian strain of Coolia malayensis isolated from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan, matches the original description of the Malaysian strain and is similar to the morphology of other strains from the Pacific region A phylogenetic analysis has clustered the Russian strain with the clade of C. malayensis, showing a 100 % similarity with the strains isolated from South Korea, New Zealand, and Malaysia and with the strains from the Canary Islands. Further observations are needed to clarify if C. malayensis is acclimated, or not, in this part of the Sea of Japan.
Funding source: Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of the Russian Federation
Award Identifier / Grant number: agreement no. 169-15-2023-002
Acknowledgments
Special thanks are due to Evgeny Shvetsov for his help in proofreading the English of the manuscript.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: M.S.S.: conceptualization sampling, microscopy, original draft preparation and writing; K.V.E.: molecular work, phylogenetic analysis, writing. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Research funding: This study was supported by the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of the Russian Federation, agreement no. 169-15-2023-002.
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Data availability: Not applicable.
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