Unarmored and thin-walled dinoflagellates were collected from brackish and coastal waters of Korea from August 2019 to August 2021. A total of 10 species belonging to orders Sussiales and Gymnodiniales were isolated and established as clonal cultures. Of them, five species (Biecheleria brevisulcata, Lepidodinium chlorophorum, Karlodinium decipiens, Kirithra asteri, and Wangodinium sinense) are newly recorded in Korea and examined using a light microscope (LM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Their molecular phylogeny was inferred from LSU rDNA sequences. Here, we present taxonomic information, morphological features, and molecular phylogenetic positions of these unrecorded dinoflagellate species.

Unarmored dinoflagellates, in the family Kareniaceae, include harmful or toxic bloom-forming species, which are associated with massive fish kills and mortalities of marine organisms worldwide. The occurrence and distribution of the toxigenic species in the family Kareniaceae were investigated in the brackish and coastal waters of Korea between July 2018 and October 2020. During the survey, we collected seven newly recorded species; Karenia papilionacea, Karlodinium digitatum, Karl. veneficum, Karl. zhouanum, Takayama acrotrocha, T. helix, and T. tasmanica. A total of fifteen strains of the seven taxa were successfully established as clonal cultures and examined using LM, SEM, and molecular phylogeny inferred from LSU rDNA sequences. Herein, we present the taxonomic information, morphological features, and molecular phylogenetic positions of the unrecorded dinoflagellate species collected from Korean coastal waters.

A study searching for unrecorded and taxonomically undescribed indigenous species has been conducted since 2006. Samples were collected from many sites in coastal waters and offshore in Korea as well as around Jeju Island. Since 2008 we have found 13 unrecorded species belonging to family Diplopsaliaceae, Heterocapsaceae, Kolkwitziellaceae, Protoperidiniaceae and Thoracosphaeraceae. The species are as follows, Preperidinium meunieri (2014), Heterocapsa ovata (2015), H. pseudotriquetra (2015), Diplopsalis lenticula (2008), Protoperidinium abei (2009), P. diabolus var. longipes (2010), P. depressum (synonym: P. parallelum (2008)), P. latispinum (2016), P. punctulatum (2010), P. solidicorne (synonym: P. spinosum (2010)), P. subpyriforme (2010), P. pacificum (2013), Scrippsiella hexapraecingula (2009) (note; The numbers in parenthesis refer to the year that the species was reported as unrecorded indigenous species by National Institute of Biological Resources, NIBR hereafter). Among these, 5 species were described as newly recorded species in Korean waters, and 8 were re-described in this study.

The order Prorocentales currently includes two genera Prorocentrum Ehrenberg and Mesoporos Lillick. The Prorocentrum genus is a predominant group throughout the year found in Korean waters. To date, the Prorocentrum genus includes 31 species and the Mesoporos genus has only one species in Korean waters. In this study, we identified one Mesoporos species and three Prorocentrum species around a coast of Jeju Island, and described them as newly recorded species in Korean waters.

Most previous studies on dinoflagellates in Korean coastal areas were conducted without morphological descriptions and illustrations of the observed dinoflagellates. This indicates that the species and diversity of dinoflagellates may have been respectively misidentified and underestimated in the past, probably due to cell shrinkage, distortion and loss caused by sample fixation. This study provides information on the morphological observations of four dinoflagellate orders (Prorocentrales, Dinophysiales, Gonyaulacales and Gymnodiniales) from Jangmok Harbour in Jinhae Bay, Korea. The unfixed samples were collected weekly from December 2013 to February 2015. A total of 13 genera and 30 species were identified using light and scanning electron microscopy, although some samples were not clarified at the species level. Harmful dinoflagellates, Prorocentrum donghaiense, Tripos furca, Alexandrium affine, A. fundyense, Akashiwo sanguinea and Cochlodinium polykrikoides, were identified based on the morphological observations. The results also reflect the occurrence and identification of dinoflagellates that had not been previously recorded in Jangmok Harbour.

우리나라 전국연안에서 해조류에 부착한 저서성 부착맹독와편모조류의 분포특성을 파악하기 위해서 2011년 11월 25일에서 30일 사이 조사하였다. 해조류에 부착하는 맹독와편모조류 Gambierdiscus spp.는 전국 27개 정점 중 5개 정점[St. 6 (전남고흥군), St. 9 (경남남해군), St. 18 (경북 포항시 구룡포), St. 20 (경북 영덕), St. 26 (강원도 양양)]에서 출현하였다. Ostreopsis spp.는 3개 정점의 해조류[St. 11 (잎꼬시래기, 붉은까막살, 애기풀가사리), St. 18(진두발, 마디잘록이, 참곱슬이), St. 21 (붉은까막살, 마디잘록이, 큰잎모자반)]에서 출현하였으며, 그중, 정점 18에서는 극히 높은 개체수(140 cells g-1)가 관찰되었다. Prorocentrum lima는 서해와 남해안에서는 거의 출현하지 않았으나, 동해해역 대부분의 정점에서 높은 밀도로 출현하였다. Coolia spp.는 서해와 남해안에서는 전혀 출현하지 않았으나, 동해해역 일부 정점에서 극히 낮은 밀도로 출현하였다. 결과적으로 아열대성 저서 와편모조류는 우리나라 대부분의 연안해역 (동해를 중심으로)에 정착하고 있다는 것을 확인 할 수 있었고, 그들의 개체수 밀도는 해조류의 기질과 관련이 있을 것이다.

Dinoflagellates were investigated from the coastal waters of Korea. The total 100 thecate dinoflagellates taxa, comprising of 93 species five varieties and two forms were identified, which were attributed to four orders nine families, 13 genera in Korean

The effects of irradiance on the growth of toxic dinoflagellates Alexandrium tamarense (Masan Bay strain) and Alexandrium catenella (Jinhae Bay strain) were investigated in the laboratory. At 15℃ and 30 psu for A. tamarense and 25℃ and 30 psu for A. catenella, the irradiance-growth curve showed the maximum growth rate (μmax) of 0.31 day-1 with half-saturation photon flux density (PFD) (KI) of 44.53 μmol m-2 s-1, and a compensation PFD (Ic) was 20.67 μmol m-2 s-1 for A. tamarense, and μmax of 0.38 day-1 with KI of 59.53 μmol m-2 s-1, and Ic was 40.80 μmol m-2 s-1 for A. catenella. The Ic equated to a depth of 8~9 m from March to June for A. tamarense and 6~7 m from March to June for A. catenella. These responses suggested that irradiance at the depth near the middle layer in Masan Bay would provide favorable conditions for two species.

We investigated the temporal variations of heterotrophic dinoflagellates (hereafter HDNF) and photosynthetic dinoflagellates (hereafter PDNF) from 14 June to 4 September 2003 at a single station in Jangmok Bay. We took water samples 47 times from 2 depths (surface and bottom layers) at hide tide. A total of 63 species were encountered and in general the most abundant genera were Prorocentrum and Protoperidinium. The abundance of PDNF and HDNF was in the range of 0.04~55.8x10 4 cells/L and in the range of 0.01~4.35x10 4 cells/L, respectively. The mean abundance of PDNF was approximately 7 times higher than that of HDNF, and was higher in the surface layer where has enough irradiance for photosynthesis than in the bottom layer. The total dinoflagellate abundance was higher in the NLP (nitrogen limitation period) than in the SLP (silicate limitation period), and the abundance in the hypoxic conditions was similar to that in the normal conditions. The Shannon-Weaver species diversity index were slightly higher in the bottom layer, the SLP and the hypoxic conditions. The PDNF abundance were correlated with temperature, DO, total inorganic nitrogen and phosphate in the whole water column, and the HDNF abundance was significantly correlated with temperature, salinity and DO. This study shows that the dinoflagellate abundance might be affected by abiotic factors such as irradiance, temperature, salinity, DO and the concentrations of inorganic nutrients, and provides baseline information for further studies on plankton dynamics in Jangmok Bay.

Early studies claimed that heterotrophic dinoflagellates Pfiesteria piscicida and related genera may produce a putative water-soluble toxin that causes death of fish and other marine animals. Several methods were tested to visualize plate morphology of Cryptoperidiniopsis brodyi and Pfiesteria piscicida. Cellulose plates of cells were exposed and visualized by a membrane stripping method using Triton X-100. While calcofluor M2R white stain could readily bind to the thecal plates, details of the plate tabulation were difficult to observe. Fixation with osmium tetroxide (OsO4) produced well preserved cells with little morphological distortion, but thecal plates could not be visualized. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation using the membrane stripping method showed distinctive plate tabulations between C. brodyi and P. piscicida suggesting that this method is a useful tool for morphological identification of lightly armored dinoflagellates.