Biodiversity and distribution of benthic dinoflagellates in tropical Zhongsha Islands, South China Sea

• Published in: Journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 2120 - 2145
• Main Authors: Xie, Hang, Zou, Jian, Zheng, Chengzhi, Qu, Yuchen, Huang, Kaixuan, Lü, Songhui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01-11-2022; Springer Nature B.V; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory,Zhuhai 519000,China; Key Laboratory of Eutrophication and Red Tide Prevention of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes,Jinan University,Guangzhou 510632,China%Research Center of Harmful Algae and Marine Biology,College of Life Science and Technology,Jinan University,Guangzhou 510362,China; Research Center of Harmful Algae and Marine Biology,College of Life Science and Technology,Jinan University,Guangzhou 510362,China; Key Laboratory of Eutrophication and Red Tide Prevention of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes,Jinan University,Guangzhou 510632,China
• Subjects: Abundance; Algae; Algal blooms; Amphidinium; Benthos; Biodiversity; Cells; Ciguatera; Counting methods; Dinoflagellata; Dinoflagellates; Distribution; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Eutrophication; Islands; Marine Harmful Microalgae; Microorganisms; Oceanography; Okadaic acid; Ostreopsis; Palytoxin; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Phytoplankton; Prorocentrum; Rainy season; Seaweeds; Toxicity; Toxins; Water depth; Water motion; Water quality; Wet season; South China Sea; South China Sea; biodiversity; distribution; Zhongsha Islands; benthic dinoflagellates
• ISSN: 2096-5508; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-022-1322-z

Benthic dinoflagellates have attracted increasing attention in recent years because of their toxicity and ability to form extensive harmful algal blooms.
Ostreopsis
producing palytoxin and its analogs,
Gambierdiscus
producing ciguatera toxins, and
Prorocentrum
producing okadaic acid and dinophysis toxins, have been concerned as serious human poisonings. We explored the benthic dinoflagellate biodiversity and distribution characteristics of a series of tropical reefs in 20–40-m water depth in wet season in the Zhongsha Islands in South China Sea using morphological, phylogenetic, and cell counting methods. Results show that benthic dinoflagellates in the islands are rich in biodiversity and 15 species from genera
Amphidinium, Coolia, Ostreopsis
, and
Prorocentrum
were identified:
Amphidinium carterae, A. magnum, A. massartii, A. operculatum, Coolia canariensis, C. malayensis, C. palmyrensis, C. tropicalis, Ostreopsis
cf.
ovata, Prorocentrum concavum, P.
cf.
sculptile, P. emarginatum, P. hoffmannianum, P. lima
, and
P. rhathymum.
Among them,
A. magnum
is reported for the first time in Chinese waters. The abundance of benthic dinoflagellates was relatively low at 88–4 345 cells/100 cm
2
on sediment and 10–91 cells/g on macroalgae.
Prorocentrum
and
Amphidinium
were the dominant and subdominant genera, respectively. It is speculated that the low abundance of benthic dinoflagellates is closely related to the scarcity of macroalgae and stronger water motion at the depth >15 m in Zhongsha Islands. This study expanded the study in biodiversity of benthic dinoflagellates in Chinese waters, and revealed the distribution characteristics of harmful benthic microalgae in reef habitats.