WoRMS taxon details
Gambierdiscus balechii S.Fraga, F.Rodríguez & I.Bravo, 2016
887213 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:887213)
accepted
Species
marine
Fraga, S.; Rodríguez, F.; Riobó, P.; Bravo, I. (2016). Gambierdiscus balechii sp. nov (Dinophyceae), a new benthic toxic dinoflagellate from the Celebes Sea (SW Pacific Ocean). <em>Harmful Algae.</em> , available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2016.06.004 [details]
Type locality contained in Manado
type locality contained in Manado [details]
Etymology Named for "the late Prof. Enrique Balech for his outstanding contributions to the taxonomy of armored dinoflagellates
Description Typical cells of G. balechii are anterioposteriorly compressed with a length/width ratio of 0.65, an average depth 57.4 ±...
Etymology Named for "the late Prof. Enrique Balech for his outstanding contributions to the taxonomy of armored dinoflagellates [details]
Description Typical cells of G. balechii are anterioposteriorly compressed with a length/width ratio of 0.65, an average depth 57.4 ±...
Description Typical cells of G. balechii are anterioposteriorly compressed with a length/width ratio of 0.65, an average depth 57.4 ± 0.3 (32–77) μm, and width 60.4 ± 0.4 (36–88) μm, but other more rounded forms can also be observed among the smallest cells. Thecal plate formula: Po, 4' , 0a, 6'', 6c, ?s, 5''' , 0p, 2''''. Thecal plates are ornamented with multiple evenly distributed depressions which most of them have a pore in the bottom. Apical pore plate Po is oval with a fishhook-shaped slit with pores in the center and surrounded by a line of pores, and it is centrally located on the epitheca. First apical plate, 1' is very small and can be easily observed on apical view. Second apical Plate 2' is the largest of the epitheca and has the suture 2'/3' about as long as the suture 2'/4'. The ratio of sutures 2'/1'' to 2'/3'' ranges from 0.30 to 0.89, average 0.63 (n = 71) which corresponds to a hatchet-shaped plate. Plate 3' is asymmetrical. In the hypotheca, Plate 2'''' is small and narrow in comparison with the postcingular plates, 1'''' and Sp. The flagellar area forms a conspicuous hollow from which two flagella emerge, the longitudinal one being perpendicularly projected. Cells are photosynthetic and the chloroplasts are round and numerous. In many cells the nucleus is U shaped and is located in the dorsal part of the cell with the points toward the ventral side of the cell but oval or even round nuclei can also be observed. [details]
Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. (2024). AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway (taxonomic information republished from AlgaeBase with permission of M.D. Guiry). Gambierdiscus balechii S.Fraga, F.Rodríguez & I.Bravo, 2016. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=887213 on 2024-04-19
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original description
Fraga, S.; Rodríguez, F.; Riobó, P.; Bravo, I. (2016). Gambierdiscus balechii sp. nov (Dinophyceae), a new benthic toxic dinoflagellate from the Celebes Sea (SW Pacific Ocean). <em>Harmful Algae.</em> , available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2016.06.004 [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Etymology Named for "the late Prof. Enrique Balech for his outstanding contributions to the taxonomy of armored dinoflagellates [details]From regional or thematic species database
Description Typical cells of G. balechii are anterioposteriorly compressed with a length/width ratio of 0.65, an average depth 57.4 ± 0.3 (32–77) μm, and width 60.4 ± 0.4 (36–88) μm, but other more rounded forms can also be observed among the smallest cells. Thecal plate formula: Po, 4' , 0a, 6'', 6c, ?s, 5''' , 0p, 2''''. Thecal plates are ornamented with multiple evenly distributed depressions which most of them have a pore in the bottom. Apical pore plate Po is oval with a fishhook-shaped slit with pores in the center and surrounded by a line of pores, and it is centrally located on the epitheca. First apical plate, 1' is very small and can be easily observed on apical view. Second apical Plate 2' is the largest of the epitheca and has the suture 2'/3' about as long as the suture 2'/4'. The ratio of sutures 2'/1'' to 2'/3'' ranges from 0.30 to 0.89, average 0.63 (n = 71) which corresponds to a hatchet-shaped plate. Plate 3' is asymmetrical. In the hypotheca, Plate 2'''' is small and narrow in comparison with the postcingular plates, 1'''' and Sp. The flagellar area forms a conspicuous hollow from which two flagella emerge, the longitudinal one being perpendicularly projected. Cells are photosynthetic and the chloroplasts are round and numerous. In many cells the nucleus is U shaped and is located in the dorsal part of the cell with the points toward the ventral side of the cell but oval or even round nuclei can also be observed. [details]Harmful effect MTX bio-assay demonstrate MBA positive and NCBA positives (Fraga et al. 2016; Pisapia et al. 2017). No compounds have yet been identified. [details]
Identification Litaker et al. (2009) divided the Gambierdiscus species in two groups according to the width of Plate 2'''' . One group comprises the species with a wide 2'''', and another one those with a narrow 2'''''. G. balechii belongs to the second group together with G. pacificus, G. australes and G. excentricus, G. belizeanus and G. scabrosus. The first three species have a smooth theca very different from the heavily ornamented theca of and G. balechii, G. belizeanus and G. scabrosus. According to Nishimura et al. (2014) G. belizeanus can be distinguished from G. scabrosus by the shape of Plate 3'' which is symmetric in the former (Litaker et al., 2009), and asymmetric in the later. Plate 3'' of G. balechi is also asymmetrical, like in G. scabrosus from which it can be differentiate by the shape of Plate 2', another critical morphological characteristic identified by Litaker et al. (2009) for Gambierdiscus species classification together with the shape of Plate 2'''' , According to the G. scabrosus original description (Nishimura et al., 2014) its Plate 2' is rectangular while in G. balechii is usually hatchet-shaped. When many Gambierdiscus cells are examined, as it was done in this work, a high morphological variability on the shape of critical plates can be observed. The average ratio between the 2'/1'' to 2'/3'' suture lengths observed in G. balechii was 0.64 (s = 0.14, n = 72) but the values range was from only 0.30, which is clearly hatchet-shaped, to 0.89 which is higher than what is considered rectangular in other species. Hence, the shape of Plate 2' has to be taken carefully and many cells have to be observed before arriving to a conclusion on the identification of a Gambierdiscus to species level. The asymmetry of Plate 3'' has the same problem as sometimes its sutures with the contiguous Plates 2'' and 4'' can be almost equal in length and hence symmetrical while in the same species can be clearly different. [details]
