Biodiv Sci ›› 2014, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (3): 329-336.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2014.13249

Special Issue: 海洋生物多样性

• Marine Biodiversity Special Feature • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Taxonomy and morphological identification of Pyrocystaceae (Pyrocystales, Dinophyta) species on the coasts of China

Yulong Pan1, Ruixiang Li2, Shuang Liu1, Sheng Zhao1,*(), Yiting Liu1   

  1. 1. North China Sea Monitoring Center, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266033
    2. First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061
  • Received:2013-11-29 Accepted:2014-02-26 Online:2014-05-20 Published:2014-06-04
  • Contact: Zhao Sheng

Abstract:

Taxonomic studies on the family Pyrocystaceae are scarce because of the group’s special life cycle and complicated taxonomic history. In this study, a detailed literature review of Pyrocystaceae is presented, and cysts of 11 species belonging to Pyrocystaceae are studied using morphological taxonomy methods. We believe that one species should be moved to genus Dissodinium, the remaining 10 species (including 2 varieties and 2 formas) are more reasonably kept in genus Pyrocystis. We also present a morphological description of each species. Furthermore, we believe that the taxonomic relationships between Dissodinium pseudolunula and Pyrocystis lunula, P. elegans and P. robusta require further study.

Key words: Pyrocystis, Dissodinium, phytoplankton, coasts of China, taxonomy, identification