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Quinquecuspis concreta

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

 
dorsal view
Single grain - reference collection Bremen
sample: GeoB xxxxx
eastern Atlantic Ocean off NW Africa
photographs Karin Zonneveld
cross section
ventral view

Field characteristics

Quinquecuspis concreta (Reid 1977) Harland 1977

Field characteristics:
Cyst pentagonal in dorso-ventral view with deep ventral sulcus, pronounced lateral apophyses and widely spaced antapical horns separated by a shallow antapical depression. Girdle equatorial, wide, excavated, inclined, slightly displaced and marked by semicontinuous ridge like thickenings of the wall. Wall thicknes is 1-2.5 µm, appears irregular in optical section with a microgranular or granular surface. Archeopyle intercalary.

Dimensions: Length 60-80 μm.
Motile affinity: Possibly Protoperidinium leonis (Pavillard 1916) Balech 1974.
Cyst theca relationship: Wall and Dale, 1968
Stratigraphic range: Pleistocene-Recent.

Comparison with other species: 
This species can be recognised by its large size, thickened cyst-wall at the apical and antapical horns. Furthermore, the wall is covered with stria in an apical/antapical direction. The cingulum might be reflected but is not always clearly depressed.

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
Quinquecuspis concreta can be found in coastal to open marine, temperate to equatorial regions. It has a broad temperature range and can be found from brackish to full marine environments. Although highest relative abundances occur in eutrophic high productivity regions, it also occurs in oligotrophic, low productivity environments. Enhanced seasonal cyst production can be related to increased river discharge or the presence of upwelling.
Distribution:
Quinquecuspis concreta is observed in temperate to equatorial regions and a single registration in the Barents Sea. It is mainly observed coastal or in upwelling regions. Highest abundances (up to 30%) occur in the East China Sea.

Environmental parameter range:
SST: 0.2 - 29.7°C (winter - summer), with summer SST > 7.9°C exception for two recordings in the Barents Sea and northern west Pacific where SST: -1.7 - 4°C (winter - summer). SSS: 17.8 - 38.6 (winter - autumn), [P]: 0.06 - 1.7 μmol/l, [N]: 0.04 - 18.5 μmol/l, chlorophyll-a: 0.08 - 19.9 ml/l, bottom water [O2]: 0 - 7.1 ml/l
Abundances >20% occur when SST: 8.6 - 14.4°C (winter - summer). High relative abundances can be found in environments that are eutrophic and have high chlorophyll-a: concentrations. The species is most abundant where low oxygen concentrations prevail.

Comparison with other records:
Apart from the records in the dataset of this Atlas, Q. concreta has been documented from coastal embayments of the western Indian coast (D'Costa et al., 2008), Chinese coastal waters (Wang et al., 2004c), Tokyo Bay (Matsuoka et al., 2003), the Benguela and South African coasts (Joyce et al., 2005; Pitcher and Joyce, 2009), the Peruvian upwelling area (Biebow et al., 1993) and the western Barents Sea (Solignac et al., 2009; Grøsfjeld et al., 2009). In the western Barents Sea its occurrence can be linked to sites with high productivity in spring (March - May). It also occurs in unstratified highly polluted waters of the South Korean bays (Pospelova and Kim, 2010). It is common in highly stratified nutrient-rich waters of the Marmara Sea and less common in the lower salinity strongly stratified Black Sea (Mudie et al. (2004). In coastal bays of southern Vancouver Island, Quinquecuspis concreta is most abundant in sediments characterized by high organic content and biogenic silica (Krepakevich and Pospelova, 2010).
Production of cysts of this species has been documented for active upwelling during the south-east Monsoon in the Arabian Sea off Somalia (Zonneveld and Brummer, 2000). In the northwestern Pacific Saanich Inlet and central Strait of Georgia (British Columbia, Canada) higher production of this species occurs when salinity is