Qia lebouriae
Field characteristics
Cyst of Qia lebouriae (Nie) Liu et al., 2015
Characteristics:
Spherical brown cysts covered with numerous solid hairs/small processes. Archeopyle is theropylic corresponding to plate 1a.
Dimensions: Cyst body Type A: 47 to 52.2 µm length, 50 to 60 µm width, Process length Type A: 3.1 to 3.8 µm. Cyst body Type B: 47.9 to 51.5 µm length, 55 to 60 µm width, Process length Type B: 6.3 to 10 µm.
Motile affinity: Qia lebouriae.
Stratigraphic range: Recent.
Comparison with other species:
Cysts of type A as depicted in Liu et al., 2015 (Phycologia vol 54 (2) resemble very much cysts of Diplopelta symmetrica. They differ in that the cysts are completely covered with hairs whereas cysts of D. symmetrica have regions without hairs. Cysts of type B most closely resemble cysts of Islandinium brevispinosum. However, they differ from these cysts in having an theropylic archeopyle along plate 1a. It seems from the plates given by Liu et al., that the processes are regularly distributed although this is not clearly visible.