title: Relationship between the dinoflagellate cyst Spiniferites pachydermus and Gonyaulax ellegaardiae sp. nov. from Izmir Bay, Turkey, and molecular characterization.
abstract: Here, we established the cyst-motile stage relation-ship for Spiniferites pachydermus through incubation of cysts with a characteristically microreticulate/perforate surface isolated from Izmir Bay in the eastern Aegean Sea of the eastern Mediterranean. The morphology of the motile stage was similar to Gonyaulax spinifera but had a different size, overhang, displacement and reticulations. Based on the distinct morphology of the cyst and morphological differences in motile cells, we assigned S. pachydermus from Izmir Bay to the new species Gonyaulax ellegaardiae. We elucidate the phylogenetic relationship of G. ellegaardiae through large and small subunit ribosomal DNA and show that it forms a clade with other species that belong to the G. spinifera complex.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Palaeontology, Gent University, Krijgslaan 281 s8, Gent, 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kenneth Neil
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2005-9483
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Celal Bayar University, Campus of Muradiye, Manisa, 45140, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hilal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Celal Bayar University, Campus of Muradiye, Manisa, 45140, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uzar
authors.affiliation: Institute for East China Sea Research (ECSER), Taira-machi, Nagasaki, 851-2213, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.affiliation: Kobe University Research Center for Inland Seas, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Aika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Institute for East China Sea Research (ECSER), Taira-machi, Nagasaki, 851-2213, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
keywords: 18S rDNA; 28S rDNA; Aegean Sea; Gonyaulax spinifera; Incubation