Description: The gonyaulacean family Protoceratiaceae is characterised by five precingular plates. It currently encompasses the type genus Ceratocorys and the fossil genus Atopodinium. Fourteen strains of Ceratocorys, Pentaplacodinium, and Protoceratium were established from Malaysian and Hawaiian waters, and their morphologies were examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Two new species, Ceratocorys malayensis sp. nov. and Pentaplacodinium usupianum sp. nov., were described from Malaysian waters. They share a Kofoidean plate formula of Po, Pt, 3?, 1a, 6??, 6C, 6S, 5???, 1p, 1????. Ceratocorys malayensis has a short first apical plate (1?) with no direct contact with the anterior sulcal plate (Sa) whereas Pentaplacodinium usupianum had a parallelogram-shaped 1? plate which often contacted the Sa plate. The genera Ceratocorys and Pentaplacodinium were emended accordingly to incorporate species bearing five or six precingular plates. The Protoceratium strain from Hawaii was morphologically similar to P. reticulatum, but differed in the lack of a ventral pore in plate 1? and slight or lack of contact between plates 1? and Sa, and is here designated as P. cf. reticulatum. The maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses based on SSU, LSU and ITS ribosomal DNA sequences revealed that these three genera are monophyletic and form a well-resolved group. Our results support Protoceratium and Pentaplacodinium as members of the family Protoceratiaceae, characterised by the presence of one anterior intercalary plate. Seven strains of Protoceratium cf. reticulatum, Ceratocorys malayensis and Pentaplacodinium usupianum were examined for yessotoxin production by LC-MS/MS but none produced a detectable amount of toxin.

Description: Gymnodinium catenatum is able to produce paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) and was responsible for a massive bloom in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, in June 2017, which resulted in serious human poisoning and economic losses. To understand the origin of the bloom and determine the potential for blooms in subsequent years, water and sediment samples collected in the Taiwan Strait from 2016 to 2019 were analyzed for cells and cysts using light microscopy (LM) and/or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The morphology of both cells and cysts from the field and cultures was examined with LM and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Large subunit (LSU) and/or internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-5.8S rRNA gene sequences were obtained in 13 isolates from bloom samples and five strains from cysts. In addition, cells of strains TIO523 and GCLY02 (from the Taiwan Strait and Yellow Sea of China, respectively) were subjected to growth experiments, and cysts from the field were used for germination experiments under various temperatures. Our strains shared identical LSU and ITS-5.8S rRNA gene sequences with those from other parts of the world, and therefore belonged to a global population. A low abundance of G. catenatum cells were detected during most of the sampling period, but a small bloom was encountered in Quanzhou on June 8, 2018. Few cysts were observed in 2016 but a marked increase was observed after the bloom in 2017, with a highest density of 689 cysts cm−3. Cysts germinated at temperatures between 14 and 23 °C with a final germination rate over 93%. Strains TIO523 and GCLY02 displayed growth at temperatures between 17 and 26 °C and 14 and 26 °C, respectively, with both strains displaying the highest growth rate of ca. 0.5 divisions d–1 at 23 °C. The PSTs of the three strains and cysts from the sediments were analyzed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). All strains were able to produce PSTs, which were dominated by N-sulfocarbamoyl C toxins (C1/2, 53.0–143.5 pg cell−1) and decarbamoyl gonyautoxins (dcGTX2/3, 26.7–52.1 pg cell−1), although they were not detected in cysts. However, hydroxybenzoyl (GC) toxins were detected in both cells and cysts. Our results suggested that the population in the Taiwan Strait belonged to a warm water ecotype and has a unique toxin profile. Our results also suggested that the persistence of cells in the water column may have initiated the bloom.

Description: The dinoflagellate genus Azadinium includes species with a plate formula of po, cp, X, 4´, 3a, 6´´, 6C, 5S, 6´´´, 2´´´´ and is part of the family Amphidomataceae with an uncertain order affiliation. Among six species, at least two produce azaspiracids (AZAs), a group of lipophilic toxins that accumulate in shellfish and can cause human health problems. Diversity within the genus might be underestimated at present due to its small size. In the present study, we searched for Azadinium by incubating freshly collected sediments from the Yellow Sea off China and succeeded in detecting a new species, here described as Azadinium dalianense sp. nov. It shared identical hypothecal, cingular and sulcal plates with the other Azadinium species, but it was unique in having only three apical and two anterior intercalary plates. Up to two stalked pyrenoids were present but their location in the cell varied. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated smallsubunit, partial large-subunit, and internal transcribed spacer sequences revealed that A. dalianense was nested within Azadinium and formed a strongly supported clade with A. poporum. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses did not detect any known AZAs.

Description: Azaspiracids (AZA) are lipophilic marine biotoxins associated with shellfish poisoning which are produced by some species of Amphidomataceae. Diversity and global biogeography of this family are still poorly known. In summer 2017 plankton samples were collected from the central Labrador Sea and western Greenland coast from 64° N (Gothaab Fjord) to 75° N for the presence of Amphidomataceae and AZA. In the central Labrador Sea, light microscopy revealed small Azadinium-like cells (9200 cells l−1). Clonal strains established from plankton samples and scanning electron microscopy of fixed plankton samples revealed at least eight species of Amphidomataceae: Azadinium obesum, Az. trinitatum, Az. dexteroporum, Az. spinosum, Az. polongum, Amphidoma languida, Azadinium spec., and a new species described here as Azadinium perforatum sp. nov. The new species differed from other Azadinium species by the presence of thecal pores on the pore plate. All samples, including cultured strains, filtered seawater samples, and solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) samplers deployed during the expedition in a continuous water-sampling system (FerryBox), were negative for AZA. DNA samples and PCR assays were positive for Amphidomataceae from most stations, whereas species-specific assays for three toxigenic species were rarely positive (two stations for Az. poporum, one station for Am. languida). The results highlight the presence of Amphidomataceae in the area but the lack of toxins and low abundance of toxigenic species currently indicate a low risk of toxic Amphidomataceae blooms in Arctic coastal waters.