Biodiv Sci ›› 2011, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (6): 787-797.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2011.11117

Special Issue: 中国的海洋生物多样性

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Species diversity of living coccolithophores in Chinese sea waters

Jun Sun1,*(), Shaofei Jin2,3   

  1. 1 College of Marine Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457
    2 Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071
    3 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
  • Received:2011-07-20 Accepted:2011-11-04 Online:2011-11-20 Published:2011-12-19
  • Contact: Jun Sun

Abstract:

This paper documents the morphology, taxonomy and diversity of living coccolithophores in Chinese sea waters (CSW). Totally, 97 species have been recorded, belonging to 4 orders, 11 families, and 44 genera. Syracosphaera, including 20 species, is the most abundant living coccolithophores genus in CSW. We also list five new record species in this paper. They are Cyrtosphaera lecaliae, Syracosphaera histrica, Corisphaera strigilis, Pontosphaera discopora and Braarudosphaera bigelowii. Meanwhile, we also describe 19 species (include six species indeterminate) of living coccolithophores founded in CSW, based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or polarizing microscope observations. The identification key for common living coccolithophores species in CSW is also presented.

Key words: living coccolithophore, China seas, diversity, taxonomy, identification key