Species diversity of sections conica and tabulata in the genus Protoperidinium (Dinophyceae) from tropical waters of the South China Sea

Abstract

About 600 phytoplankton samples were collected from Vietnamese coastal waters including around the Spratly Islands. Cell morphology and shapes of apical plates (1'), intercalary plates (2a), and other plate patterns were squashed and photographed to support species identification. Fourteen species of the sections conica and tabulata in the genus Protoperidinium were described, among them 8 species including P. decollatum, P. laciniosum, P. rhombiforme, P. symmetricum and P. tohrui (conica section); these are the first reports of P. balechii, P. nudum, P. punctulatum (tabulata section) among the tropical phytoplankton flora of the South China Sea.