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Selenopemphix quanta

Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Pospelova V. (2015). A determination key for modern dinoflagellate cysts. Palynology 39 (3), 387- 407.

 
dorsal view
photograph Karin Zonneveld
lateral/apical view
photograph Karin Zonneveld
cross section
photopgraph Karin Zonneveld
apical view
photograph Karin Zonneveld
 
 

Field Characteristics

Selenopemphix quanta (Bradford 1975) Matsuoka 1985

Characteristics:
Cyst with polar compression, ornamented with numerous spines. Cyst wall is smooth and lightly brown. Processes are solid, with sharp or blunt terminations, occurring along the cingular margins and in rows on the epi- and hypocyst, but not in the sulcus. Archeopyle is 2a intercalary, elongated with rounded angles (Marret and Zonneveld, 2003).

Motile affinity: Protoperidinium conicum (Gran 1900) Balech 1974.
Cyst theca relationship: Wall and Dale, 1968

Comparison with other species: 
This species is often found in apical view. It can be recognised at its very characteristic rows of processes along both of the cingular edges. The archeopyle is not positioned directly opposite to the sulcal depression and has small laterally displaced. Cysts can be distinguished from cysts of Protoperidinium nudum in its larger number of processes and its generally larger size.

Cyst of Protoperidinium nudum (Meunier 1919) Balech 1974

Characteristics:
Small, spiny brown cyst, of subspherical shape with weak polar compression. Spines are relatively long in comparison to S. quanta and less numerous. The process bases are conical. The girdle zone is marked by two parallel rows of spines.

Cyst theca relationship: Wall and Dale, 1968


Comparison with other species: 
This species has fewer processes than Selenopemphix quanta. They appear longer in comparison to the total cyst diameter.

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
Selenopemphix quanta has a polar to equatorial distribution and is generally restricted to eutrophic settings such as upwelling areas, discharge plumes and frontal systems. It can be observed in coastal and offshore sites where upper waters may be full-marine or with seasonally or permanently reduced salinities. Highest relative abundances occur in mesotrophic to eutrophic regions where bottom waters are anoxic to oxic. Its seasonal distribution at some sites is positively correlated to the opal/biogenic silica flux.
Distribution:
Selenopemphix quanta occurs in coastal sites and near sub-tropical and equatorial front systems of polar to equatorial regions. It is not recorded from the central gyres of the Oceans. High abundances (up to 44%) occur in eutrophic regions with high sea surface Chlorophyll-a: concentrations. These regions include upwelling areas, fronts and regions where river discharge waters can be seasonally or permanently present.

Environmental parameter range:
SST: -2.1 - 29.8°C (autumn - summer) with summer SST > 0°C except for two sites in the Arctic where SST: < 0°C throughout the year. SSS 16.8 - 39.2 (summer - autumn), [P]: 0.06 - 1.7 μmol/l, [N]: 0.04 - 15.6 μmol/l, chlorophyll-a: 0.1 - 21.8 ml/l, bottom water [O2]: up to 8.0 ml/l.
Although Selenopemphix quanta can be abundant in oligotrophic environments, highest abundances occur in (seasonally) mesotrophic to eutrophic areas. These are upwelling areas, river plumes and frontal regions. Here large inter-annual variability in the trophic state of the upper waters can occur. Highest relative abundances occur in regions where bottom waters are ventilated.

Comparison with other records:
Apart from the records in the dataset of this Atlas, Selenopemphix quanta has been recorded from surface sediments of coastal sites of the Persian Gulf, off western India (Arabian Sea), the upwelling area off Peru, coastal sites of Svalbard (Barents Sea) and coastal sites of the White Sea (Bradford, 1975; Biebow et al., 1993; Biebow, 1996; Godhe et al., 2000; Golovnina and Polyakova, 2004; Novichkova and Polyakova, 2007; D'Costa et al., 2008, Grøsfjeld et al., 2009). Seasonal distribution and sediment trap studies reveal that cyst production is not bound to any season and cysts can be produced throughout the year (Montresor et al., 1998; Susek et al., 2005; Fujii and Matsuoka, 2006; Ribeiro and Amorim, 2008; Pospelova et al., 2010; Zonneveld et al., 2010; Price and Pospelova, 2011). In the Arabian Sea there are clear indications for mass transport from the shelf into the deeper part of the basin (Zonneveld and Brummer, 2000). Off NW Africa and in the Saanich Inlet (BC, Canada) cyst production is positively correlated to the fluxes of opal and biogenic silica suggesting a link between the production of these cysts and diatom production (Zonneveld et al., 2010; Price and Pospelova, 2011). In Fjords of Svalbard (Barents Sea) the production of Q. concreta can be linked to the influence of Atlantic Water (Howe et al., 2010).
In arctic sediments the relative abundance of this species shows a negative correlation with seasonal ice cover duration but it occurs at sites where ice-cover may last for 11 months a year (de Vernal et al., 1998; Radi and de Vernal, 2008).