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Cyst of Gymnodinium catenatum

Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Pospelova V. (2015). A determination key for modern dinoflagellate cysts. Palynology 39 (3), 387- 409.

 
G. catenatum lateral view
lateral view
region: off Morocco (NW Africa)
photograph: Ulrike Holzwarth
G. catenatum ventral view
lateral view II
 

Field characteristics

Cyst of Gymnodinium catenatum Graham 1943

Field characteristics: 
Field characteristics: Spherical pale brown cysts covered with a microreticulation of low (<2 µm) rounded ridges. The ridges delineate minute three to eight sided paravesicles less than 3 µm across. Five and six sided paravesicles are the most common. Cyst surface within the paravesicles may bare submicron granae. The paravesicles are randomly distributed over the cyst surface, except for oriented bands that delimit the cingulum, sulcus and acrobase. The cingulum is bordered by two cingular bands. Each band consist of two or more rows of oriented, primarily five or six sided paravesicles. Although this pattern appears less distinct and the paravesicles more random at some parts of a cyst. The sulcus is marked by a longitudinal line of approximately 15 oriented paravesicles which begin at the lower margin of the flagellar pore region. The reflected flagellar pore region is marked by a whorled pattern of paravesicles that seems to have two central foci. The circular to egg shaped acrobase is surrounded by two paralell rows of minute elongated polygonal paravesicle areas. The cyst splits roughly in half, often along the edge of the cingulum (Anderson et al., 1988).

Dimensions: Cyst body diameter: 36 to 62 µm (Bolch et al., 1999).
Cyst-theca relationship: Anderson et al., 1988
Stratigraphic range: ?Holocene.

Comparison with other species:
This species is characterised by its large size and the reticulate brown pattern where the tabulation the cingulum, as well as by reflected apical pore. Differences between this species and cysts of G. nolleri and G. microreticulatum are the size, the cingulum being smaller than 5% of the cyst body size, and the cingulum containing more than 4 rows of paravesicles. Identification of this species is important for assessment of potential risks of toxic algal blooms.

Geographic distribution

Geographic distribution based on :
Zonneveld et al., 2013. Atlas of modern dinoflagellate cyst distribution based on 2405 datapoints. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, v. 191, 1-197

Gymnodinium catenatum occurs in temperate to equatorial regions which are generally full marine, coastal or in the vicinity of upwelling cells. It is restricted to sites where bottom waters are moderately to well-ventilated. In upwelling regions its cysts are produced during active upwelling or upwelling relaxation.
Distribution:
Cysts of Gymnodinium catenatum are observed in coastal sediments from temperate to sub-tropical regions of the eastern Atlantic and adjacent seas such as the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. They are furthermore observed in the subtropical to tropical western Pacific (East China Sea and South China Sea) and the equatorial Arabian Sea. Highest abundances up to 49% occur in the Yellow Sea, China Sea and off NW Africa.

Environmental parameters
SST: 3.4 - 29.0°C (winter - spring). SSS: 31.0 - 36.7 (summer - autumn) apart from a few Black Sea sites where SSS can be as low as 17.5 (summer) and 18.4 (winter). [P]: 0.08 - 0.8 μmol/l, [N]: 0.18 - 6.94 μmol/l, chlorophyll-a: < 9.31 ml/l, bottom water [O2]: 1.1 - 6.1 ml/l.
With exception of one site, abundances of >10% occur when SST: 15.8 -27.3 (winter - summer). Highest relative abundances are observed in full-marine sites with low [P] and [N] but with high chlorophyll-a and well ventilated bottom waters.

Comparison with other records:
Apart from the recordings in the datasets included in this Atlas, G. catenatum cysts occur in coastal sediments off Australia and Tasmania (Bolch and Reynolds, 2002), the west coast of India (Godhe et al., 2000; D'Costa et al., 2008), the Gulf of California and the south-western Mexican coast (Morquecho and Lechuga-Deveze, 2003; Limoges et al., 2010). The plankton (motile) distribution in upper waters is wider than that reported from the cysts. Motile stages have been observed in coastal waters from the western South Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, southern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, northern Indonesia, the South China Sea and the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula (see reviews in Bolch and de Salas, 2007; Trainer et al., 2010). Sediment trap and seasonal distribution studies indicate that cysts are often produced during upwelling and upwelling relaxation in the Gulf of California, off and along the Iberian peninsula and in the Arabian Sea (Zonneveld and Brummer 2000; Morquecho and Lechuga-Devéze, 2004; Ribeiro and Amorim, 2008; Bravo et al.,2010a and references in Smayda and Trainer, 2010). However, our dataset shows that at least the cysts are not restricted to upwelling areas.