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Tectatodinium pellitum

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

 
lateral view
photographs Karin Zonneveld
cross section
 

Field characteristics

Tectatodinium pellitum Wall 1967 emend. Head 1994

Field characteristics:
Subspherical to slightly ovoidal shape cyst, with a slight apical protuberance. Cyst wall consist of dense sinuous projecting fibrils. Archeopyle is precingular (type P). There is no other indication of tabulation.
 
Dimensions: Cyst body diameter: 32 to 53 µm.
Motile affinity: Gonyaulax spinifera (Claparède et Lachmann 1859) Diesing 1866
Cyst theca relationship : Wall and Dale, 1968
Stratigraphic range: Miocene to Recent.

Comparison with other species: 
The thick wall of this species is very characteristic. In cross section it looks like a very spongy wall. This is because the wall consist of a basis layer on which flexible densely packed hairs are standing. Also the precingular archeopyle that is lost by the loss of one single plate is very characteristic.

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
Tectatodinium pellitum is a coastal subtropical to equatorial species that has its highest relative abundances in mesotrophic to eutrophic environments. It is observed in regions with anoxic to well ventilated bottom waters.
Distribution:
Tectatodinium pellitum is restricted to coastal sites from sub-tropical to equatorial regions. Although it generally is observed only in very low abundances, it can reach 15% of the association in the coastal sites in the Gulf of Mexico (western Atlantic).

Environmental parameter range:
SST: 9.2 - 29.5°C (winter - summer) with summer SST > 14.4°C. SSS: 21.9 - 39.2 (winter - autumn). [P]: 0.06 - 0.6 μmol/l, [N]: 0.2 - 3.3 μmol/l, chlorophyll-a: 0.09 - 9.9 ml/l, bottom water [O2]: 0.3 - 5.2 ml/l. Although present in nutrient poor regions, highest abundances occur in regions with high upper water productivity.

Comparison with other records:
Apart from the records in the dataset of this Atlas, Tectatodinium pellitum has been observed in surface sediments of coastal sites of the upwelling area off Peru (eastern Pacific, Biebow et al., 1993), the Benguela upwelling area and the South China Sea (see references in Marret and Zonneveld, 2003).
Specimens documented from the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions that have been assigned to Tectatodinium pellitum are considered to represent a different species than described in this atlas (see discussions in Marret and Zoneveld 2003).