What question did this study set out to answer?

To identify the morphological characteristics of epibenthic dinoflagellates from the southern Gulf of California.

April 1, 20260 citationsOpen Access

Epibenthic dinoflagellates from the southern Gulf of California

RARamos-Santiago A.E.ILI. Leyva-Valencia CBC.J. Band-Schmidt

Key Points

To identify the morphological characteristics of epibenthic dinoflagellates from the southern Gulf of California.
Collected samples from Bahía Concepción, Bahía de La Paz, and Ensenada de La Paz.
Isolated dinoflagellates from macroalgal samples and horizontal tows in shallow waters.
Cultured 34 strains under varying temperatures and salinities for identification.
Identified 13 species from various genera including Amphidinium and Prorocentrum.
Utilized light microscopy for initial identification, revealing that some species have subtle morphological differences.
Highlighted the need to combine morphological and molecular techniques for precise species identification.

Abstract

The ecological role of epibenthic dinoflagellates in shallow ecosystems consists of their participation in matter and energy transfer between sediments and the water column. The aim of this study was to perform the morphological identification of epibenthic dinoflagellates isolated from the southern Gulf of California. Samples were collected in Bahía Concepción, Bahía de La Paz, and Ensenada de La Paz. Dinoflagellate cells were isolated from macroalgal samples collected at depths of < 10 m and from horizontal tows that were carried out in shallow water (< 2 m). Currently, at IPN-CICIMAR, 34 strains of epibenthic dinoflagellates isolated between 2015 and 2022 are cultured under varying conditions. They were maintained at salinities of 32, 34 and 36, temperatures of 24 ºC and 30 ºC, and a light/dark cycle of 12 h:12 h, with an illumination of 150 μmol E m-2 s-1 in modified K and GSe media. The strains were identified by light and scanning electron microscopy as 13 species from the genera Amphidinium, Coolia, Ostreopsis, Gambierdiscus, Prorocentrum, Symbiodinium and Vulcanodinium. In this study, only short light microscopy descriptions are provided. The morphological characteristics obtained by light microscopy allowed the identification of Coolia malayensis; however, most strains were tentatively identified to species level with the information provided by this tool. In some cases, interspecific morphological differences are subtle (e.g., between Prorocentrum cassubicum and Prorocentrum norrisianum), making it difficult to identify species based only on morphological characteristics. Therefore, the combination of morphological and molecular tools is needed for accurate species identification

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