Circumtropical distribution of the epiphytic dinoflagellate Coolia malayensis (Dinophyceae): Morphology and molecular phylogeny from Puerto Rico and Brazil |
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| Authors: | Fernando Gómez Dajun Qiu Ernesto Otero‐Morales Rubens M Lopes Senjie Lin |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Laboratory of Plankton Systems, Department of Biological Oceanography, Oceanographic Institute, University of S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, Brazil;2. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio‐resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou, China;3. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico;4. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, Connecticut, USA |
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| Abstract: | The dinoflagellate genus Coolia, which contains potentially toxic species, is an important component of epiphytic assemblages in marine ecosystems. The morphology of C. malayensis has been illustrated from strains isolated in Asia and Oceania. In this study, strains of C. malayensis isolated from the Caribbean Sea in Puerto Rico, and for the first time from the South Atlantic Ocean in Brazil, were investigated by light, epifluorescence and scanning electron microscopies. No significant morphological differences between these new strains and other geographically distant strains of C. malayensis were observed. In the LSU rDNA phylogeny, the C. malayensis sequences from Brazil and Puerto Rico branched within the clade of strains from Oceania and Asia. The recently described species C. santacroce branched as a sister group of C. monotis, and C. palmyrensis was basal to the combined group of C. monotis/C. malayensis/C. santacroce. A tentative undescribed species from Florida and New Zealand branched as a sister group of C. malayensis. Our results confirm that C. malayensis showed a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical to subtropical waters, while the type species C. monotis remains endemic for the Mediterranean Sea and the temperate North Atlantic. |
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| Keywords: | benthic dinophyta Caribbean Sea epiphyte harmful algal blooms microalgae South Atlantic Ocean toxic dinoflagellata |
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