Dinoflagellate resting cysts isolated from sediments in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

Abstract

Seventeen species of dinoflagellate resting cysts have been recorded for the first time in New Zealand. Isolated from sediments at 93 locations in the Marlborough Sounds, these were Gonyaulax spinifera, G. grindleyi, G. polyedra, G. digitalis, Gonyaulax sp., Protoperidinium sub‐inerme, P. pentagonum, P. conicum, P. oblongum, P. leonis, P. cf punctulatum, P. cf. conicoides, Per‐idinium stellatum, Peridinium sp., Scrippsiella tro‐choidea, Polykrikos schwartzii, and Diplopsalis sp. here possible their identities were confirmed by hatching experiments yielding live motile cells. Greatest cyst concentrations and species diversity were found in Kenepuru Sound and Tennyson Inlet. These areas may be more likely to harbour toxic species causing paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) or diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) if these were to appear in the future.