Creation of the subgenus Testeria Faust subgen. nov. Protoperidinium Bergh from the SW Atlantic Ocean: Protoperidinium novella sp. nov. and Protoperidinium concinna sp. nov. Dinophyceae

Abstract

M.A. Faust. 2006. Creation of the subgenus Testeria Faust subgen. nov. Protoperidinium Bergh from the SW Atlantic Ocean: Protoperidinium novella sp. nov. and Protoperidinium concinna sp. nov. Dinophyceae. Phycologia 45: 1–9. DOI: 10.2216/04-62.1Two new heterotrophic Protoperidinium species are described from oceanic waters from The Gulf Stream, SW Atlantic Ocean and Belizean Atlantic Barrier Reef Ecosystems, Caribbean Sea. Protoperidinium novella Faust sp. nov. and P. concinna Faust sp. nov. show a plate formula of 4′, 1a, 7′′, 4C(3+t), 6S, 5′′′, and 2′′′′, which is atypical for the genus. It is characterized by a miniscule flat closure on the extreme anterior of the pointed apical horn. Apical pore complex is absent. Apical ventral plate 1′ disconnects from the tip of the apical horn and connects directly to the anterior sulcal plate (Sa) along a straight line of the longitudinal axis of the cell's sagittal plane. The shape and position of the intercalary plate (1a) is another distinctive feature for these species, the presence of only one 1a plate. The thecal plate features of P. novella and P. concinna justifies the establishment of the new subgenus, Testeria Faust subgen. nov. The relationship with other congeneric species and the position within the genus Protoperidinium are discussed.