Islandinium pacificum sp. nov., a new dinoflagellate cyst from the upper Quaternary of the northeast Pacific

• Published in: Palynology
• Main Authors: Gurdebeke, Pieter, Mertens, Kenneth Neil, Pospelova, Vera, Van Nieuwenhove, Nicolas, Louwye, Stephen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Biology and Life Sciences; Round brown process-bearing cyst; taxonomy; cyst-theca relationship; Pacific Ocean; Atlantic Ocean; Saanich Inlet; MOTILE STAGE RELATIONSHIPS; NUNATSIAVUT FJORDS LABRADOR; SURFACE-WATER CONDITIONS; RECENT MARINE-SEDIMENTS; THECA RELATIONSHIP; PHYLOGENETIC POSITIONS; ABSOLUTE ABUNDANCE; BRITISH-COLUMBIA; SEA; DINOPHYCEAE; Canada; Pacific; British Columbia; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8641110; http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8641110; https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2018.1549118; https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8641110/file/8661779

Round brown process-bearing cysts (RBPC) produced by dinoflagellates (Dinophyceae) occur as an important part of assemblage diversities in seafloor sediments worldwide. Here a new species, Islandinium pacificum, is described from surface sediment samples from coastal waters of British Columbia (Canada). Additional observations are made on material from the Holocene of Kyuquot Sound (Vancouver Island, Canada) and the Eemian of the Voring Plateau (North Atlantic). The cysts have a smooth wall and bear acuminate processes with barbs. Incubation experiments reveal an affinity with the motile stage Protoperidinium mutsuense. The ecology of the new species is specified.