gomez 2003 ceratoperidinium

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RECORDS OF CERATOPERIDINIUM MARGALEF (DINOPHYCEAE)FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

F. GMEZ*, M. ABBOUD-ABI SAAB***Department of Aquatic Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences,

The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan**National Center for Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 534, Batroun, Lebanon

[email protected] [email protected]

CERATOPERIDINIUMDINOFLAGELLATE

DINOPHYCEAEPHYTOPLANKTON

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

ABSTRACT. Records of dinoflagellates of the rare genus Ceratoperidinium Mar-galef ex Loeblich III are reported from the Mediterranean Sea. C. yeye Margalefwas collected from the Bay of Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Is.) and C. cf. yeye fromthe Alborn Sea. From the Lebanese coastal waters, C. yeye was also reported andC. mediterraneum Abboud-Abi Saab. Other taxon, Ceratoperidinium sp., characte-

rised by a distinct elongate apical process, is reported from the Bay of Palma deMallorca. These species were collected from neritic and epipelagic waters andusually associated with phytoplankton post-bloom conditions.

CERATOPERIDINIUMDINOFLAGELL

DINOPHYCEAEPHYTOPLANCTON

MER MDITERRANE

RSUM. Des donnes sur un genre rare de Dinoflagell Ceratoperidinium Mar-galefex Loeblich III de Mditerrane sont exposes. C. yeye Margalef a t trouvdans la Mer dAlborn et la Baie de Palma de Mallorca (Iles Balares). Dans leseaux ctires libanaises, C. yeye et C. mediterraneum Abboud-Abi Saab ont aussit recolts. Ceratoperidinium sp., caractris par un prolongement apical distinct,a t signal dans la Baie de Palma de Majorque. Ces espces ont t collectesdans des eaux nritiques, piplagiques et souvent associes aux conditions dun

post-bloom de phytoplancton.

Dinoflagellates are well represented in theoligotrophic waters of the Mediterranean Sea. De-spite the relative high number of studies performedin the Mediterranean Sea, some taxa are rarely re-

ported and information on their ecology and distri-bution is scarce. This is the case for the species ofthe genus Ceratoperidinium.

The systematic position of this genus, which shape

is reminiscent of peridinialeans and brachydiniaceans,remains uncertain. Ceratoperidinium has been consid-ered as a thecate dinoflagellate of the orderPeridiniales (Loeblich III 1982, Sournia 1986), butthecal plates have not been observed. According toFensome et al. (1993), the rigid wall may be evidenceof a pellicle. These authors placed this genus in thePtychodiscales as an athecate dinoflagellate.

Ceratoperidinium yeye Margalef ex Loeblich III

The type species of the genus Ceratoperidiniumwas described from one individual in the Spanish

Mediterranean coastal waters (Margalef 1969). The

species presented a total length of 184 m (63 mexcluding the antapical appendices) and atransversal diameter of 50 m (Fig. 1A). This taxonwas re-described as Ceratoperidinium margalefiiby Loeblich III (1980) due to the lack of Latin di-agnosis.

Later, Abboud-Abi Saab (1989) reported onespecimen of C. yeye found in November 1988 at

5 m depth in the Lebanese coastal waters (33o

5734N, 35o 35 47E). The Lugol fixed specimenwas collected from waters with a temperature of22oC, salinity 39.53, nitrate 0.26 M and phosphate0.04 M. Mainly diatoms composed the surround-ing phytoplankton assemblage, reaching an abun-dance of 6.1 cells ml1 and dinoflagellates (mainlyathecate forms) reaching an abundance of 3 cellsml-1. The total length of the specimen was 236 m,67 m excluding the appendices and thetransdiameter was 59 m. The cell size excludingthe antapical appendices represented 25% of the to-tal length. This specimen presented differenceswith the type species such as bigger size and protu-

berances that started at the 1/3 from the proximal

VIE MILIEU, 2003, 53 (1) : 43-46


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part, distributed regularly towards the tips of theantapical appendices (Fig. 1B).

Velsquez (1997) reported two records of C.yeye in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean Sea)in February 1988.

During a survey carried out in September 1999,one specimen that resembles C. yeye was observedat 20 m depth in the NW Alborn Sea (36 o05N,05o12W) from Lugol f ixed water samples(Fig. 1D). Temperature was 17.3oC, salinity 36.77,nitrate 0.15 M and phosphate 0.03 M. Themicrophytoplankton assemblage was dominated bydiatoms that reached an abundance of 7.7 cells ml1,mainly Dactyliosolen fragilissimus, Leptocylindrus

danicus, L. minimus and Pseudo-nitzschia spp,whereas dinoflagellates reached an abundance of2.6 cells ml1 dominated by Gymnodiniumcatenatum. The observed phytoplankton assem-blage corresponded to post-bloom conditions, in

contrast with an assemblage dominated byChaetoceros curvisetus more typical under theeutrophic conditions in this area (Gmez et al.2000).

No size measurements of this specimen wereperformed. Cell size excluding the antapical appen-dices represented 29% of the total size whereas inthe Margalefs figure this ratio was 34%. Theantapical appendices were thicker than those

44 GMEZ F., ABBOUD-ABI SAAB M.

Fig. 1. Line drawings of the records ofCeratoperidinium spp in the Mediterranean Sea. A, The type species, Cerato-peridinium yeye Margalef, adapted from Margalef (1969). B, C. yeye from the Lebanese coastal waters. C, C. yeye col-lected from the Bay of Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Is.). D, Ceratoperidinium cf. yeye recorded from the NW Alborn

Sea. E, Ceratoperidinium mediterraneum Abboud-Abi Saab from the Lebanese coastal waters. F, Ceratoperidinium sp.collected from the Bay of Palma de Mallorca. Scale bar: 50 m.


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shown in Margalef (1969) and protuberances werenot observed along the appendices.

In October 2001, a specimen ofC. yeye was ob-served at 10 m depth in the Bay of Palma deMallorca (Balearic Is.) (39o32N, 2o36.3E) from

Lugol fixed water samples. The cell was 131 mlong (51 m excluding the appendices) and thetransdiameter was 42 m (Fig. 1C). The antapicalappendices were also thicker than those inMargalefs drawing and both of them presentedclear protuberances in the middle of the appendices.

Ceratoperidinium mediterraneum Abboud-AbiSaab

Abboud-Abi Saab (1989) described this speciesfrom the Lebanese coastal waters from one speci-

men. The main characteristic of this taxon in com-parison to C. yeye is the presence of a tip-roundedtubular apical (capitate) process (Fig. 1E). The to-tal length was 134 m, 46 m excluding the appen-dices and the cingulum was 42 m width (cell sizeexcluding the antapical appendices represented34% of the total size). The type species was foundin July 1982 at 5 m depth in a coastal station(34o0050N, 35o3040E). The temperature was27.2oC, salinity 39.2, nitrate 0.11 M and phos-

phate 0.03 M. The phytoplankton assemblage cor-responded to spring post-bloom conditions domi-nated by diatoms (mainly Dactyliosolen fragi-lissimus) reaching an abundance of 23.6 cells ml -1

whereas the abundance of dinoflagellates was low(0.32 cells ml1). In October 1988, at the same sta-tion and the same depth, another specimen was col-lected with a total length of 137 m (55 m exclud-ing the appendices) and the cingulum was 47 mwidth. Cell size excluding the antapical appendicesrepresented 40% of the total size. This specimenwas collected from waters with a temperature of26.6oC and a salinity of 39.3.

Ceratoperidinium sp

In November 2001, one specimen of the genusCeratoperidinium was collected in the Bay ofPalma de Mallorca (Balearic Is.) at 10 m depth.

The cingulum diameter was 39 m width and112 m of total length (including antapical and api-cal appendices) (Fig. 1F). This taxon presented adistinctive curved apical process more elongatethan that of C. mediterraneum. In Cerato-

peridinium sp. the antapical appendices werethicker than those in C. yeye and C. mediterraneumand protuberances along the antapical appendiceswere not observed. These characteristics resemblethe antiapical appendices of the specimen C. cf.

yeye , collected from the Alborn Sea. Based on the

CERATOPERIDINIUM(DINOFLAGELLATE) FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN 45

Table I. Records of Ceratoperidinium spp, includinghistorical records.

Fig. 2. Location of the records of Ceratoperidinium spp.


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length of the apical process, C. mediterraneum ap-pears as an intergraded taxon between C. yeye andCeratoperidinium sp.

Final remarks

As general trend, C. yeye, C. mediterraneum andCeratoperidinium sp. seem to appear in coastal wa-ters, being preferentially recorded from surface wa-ters and usually associated with phytoplankton

post-bloom conditions. Most of the specimens werecollected under thermophilic conditions (summer-autumn), however the records by Velsquez (1997)in the Gulf of Lions in winter prevent us to consid-ering Ceratoperidinium as a strictly warm-watersgenus.

According to the available knowledge on the

geographical distribution of Ceratoperidinium,these species can be considered as an exclusivelyMediterranean taxa (Table I, Fig. 2). Despite thedistinctive morphology, relative large size and be-ing preferentially found in the surface coastal wa-ters (more intensely studied), the records of thesetaxa are extremely low.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The sample from the AlbornSea was provided by Dr H Claustre within the context ofJGOFS-France PROSOPE programme. F.G. acknowled-ges the financial support by Spanish Ministry of Scienceand Technology and by the European Commission(ICB2-CT-2001-80002).

REFERENCES

Abboud-Abi Saab M 1989. Les Dinoflagells des eauxctires libanaises- Espces rares ou nouvelles du

phytoplancton marin. Leb Sci Bull 5(2): 5-16.Fensome RA, Taylor FJR, Norris G, Sarjeant WAS,Wharton DI, Williams GL 1993. A classification ofliving and fossil dinoflagellates. J MicropaleontologySpec Publ 7: 1-351. Amer Mus Nat Hist, SheridanPress, Hanover, PA.

Gmez F, Echevarra F, Garca CM, Prieto L, Ruiz J,Reul A, Jimnez-Gmez F, Varela M 2000. Micro-

plankton distribution in the Strait of Gibraltar: cou-pling between organisms and hydrodynamicstructures. J Plank Res 22: 603-617.

Loeblich AR III 1980. Dinoflagellate nomenclature.Taxon 29: 321-324.

Loeblich AR III 1982. Dinophyceae. In Parker SP ed,Synopsis and classification of living organisms,

McGraw-Hill, New York. 1: 101-115.Margalef R 1969. Composicin especfica del fitoplanc-

ton de la costa catalano-levantina (Mediterrneo occi-dental) en 1962-1967. Inv Pesq 33: 345-380.

Sournia A 1986. Atlas du phytoplancton marin. Vol. I:Introduction, Cyanophyces, Dictyochophyces, Di-nophyces et Raphidophyces. Editions du C.N.R.S.,Paris 219 p.

Velsquez ZR 1997. Fitoplancton en el MediterrneoNoroccidental. Ph.D. Univ Politcn Catalunya, 272+55 p.

Reu le 16 avril 2002; received April 16, 2002Accept le 24 septembre 2002; accepted September 24, 2002

46 GMEZ F., ABBOUD-ABI SAAB M.

gomez 2003 ceratoperidinium

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