Abstract
Tintinnids are planktonic ciliates that play an important role in marine ecosystem. According to their distribution in the world oceans, tintinnid genera were divided into several biogeographical types such as boreal, warm water, austral and neritic. Therefore, the oceanic tintinnid assemblage could be correspondingly divided into boreal assemblage, warm water assemblage and austral assemblage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of boreal tintinnid assemblage in the Northwest Pacific and the Arctic, and to identify the connection between boreal tintinnid assemblage and neighboring assemblages. Surface water samples were collected along a transect from the East China Sea to the Chukchi Sea in summer 2014. According to the presence of boreal genera and warm water genera, three tintinnid assemblages (the East China Sea neritic assemblage, the Japan Sea warm water assemblage, and the boreal assemblage) were identified along the transect. The boreal assemblage extended from the Chukchi Sea to the waters north of the Sōya Strait. Densities peaks occurred at stations in the two branches of the Alaska Current and decreased both northward and southward. The densities were <10 ind./dm3 at most stations in Arctic region. The dominant genera (Acanthostomella, Codonellopsis, Parafavella, and Ptychocylis) accounted for 79.07±29.67% (n = 49) of the abundance in the boreal assemblage. The densities of the dominant genera covaried with strongly significant positive correlations. Tintinnids with lorica oral diameter of 22–26 μm and 38–42 μm were dominant and contributed 67.35% and 15.13%, respectively, to the total abundance in the boreal assemblage. The distribution and densities of tintinnids in the study area suggest that the Sōya Strait might be a geographical barrier for tintinnids expansion.
Highlights
IntroductionTintinnids are planktonic ciliates with shells (lorica). Taxonomically, tintinnids belong to the subclass Choreotrichia, class Spirotrichea [1]
The stations in the Japan Sea were in the path of the Tsushima Current, a branch of the Kuroshio Current, which influences the East China Sea and the Japan Sea, while the stations north of the Sōya Strait were influenced by two major North Pacific currents and currents flowing from the Bering Sea to the Chukchi Sea [19,20,21,22]
We considered the tintinnid assemblage at these two stations as East China Sea neritic assemblage
Summary
Tintinnids are planktonic ciliates with shells (lorica). Taxonomically, tintinnids belong to the subclass Choreotrichia, class Spirotrichea [1]. Tintinnid genera have been classified as cosmopolitan, neritic, warm water, boreal, and austral biogeographical types based on their distribution in the global ocean [5,6]. According to the presence of each biogeographical genera type, there should be boreal, warm water and austral tintinnid assemblages in the oceanic water from Arctic to Antarctic. Most tintinnid species showed a clear regional distribution and a well–defined tintinnid assemblage characterized each oceanic province along a transect from 42°N to 43°S across the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea. For example, Xystonella and Xystonellopsis were considered as typical for the Mediterranean Sea. Epiplocyloides reticulate was considered as typical for the Red Sea [12]
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