title: Ostreopsis fattorussoi sp. nov. (Dinophyceae), a new benthic toxic Ostreopsis species from the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
abstract: The new benthic toxic dinoflagellate, Ostreopsis fattorussoi sp. nov., is described from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon and Cyprus coasts, and is supported by morphological and molecular data. The plate formula, Po, 3', 7″, 6c, 7s, 5‴, 2'''', is typical for the Ostreopsis genus. It differs from all other Ostreopsis species in that (i) the curved suture between plates 1' and 3' makes them approximately hexagonal, (ii) the 1' plate lies in the left half of the epitheca and is obliquely orientated leading to a characteristic shape of plate 6″. The round thecal pores are bigger than the other two Mediterranean species (O. cf. ovata and O. cf. siamensis). O. fattorussoi is among the smallest species of the genus (DV: 60.07 ± 5.63 μm, AP: 25.66 ± 2.97 μm, W: 39.81 ± 5.05 μm) along with O. ovata. Phylogenetic analyses based on the LSU and internal transcribed spacer rDNA shows that O. fattorussoi belongs to the Atlantic/Mediterranean Ostreopsis spp. clade separated from the other Ostreopsis species. Ostreopsis fattorussoi produces OVTX-a and structural isomers OVTX-d and -e, O. cf. ovata is the only other species of this genus known to produce these toxins. The Lebanese O. fattorussoi did not produce the new palytoxin-like compounds (ovatoxin-i, ovatoxin-j1, ovatoxin-j2, and ovatoxin-k) that were previously found in O. fattorussoi from Cyprus. The toxin content was in the range of 0.28-0.94 pg · cell-1. On the Lebanon coast, O. fattorussoi was recorded throughout the year 2015 (temperature range 18°C-31.5°C), with peaks in June and August.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.|Consorzio Interuniversitario Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Via Flaminio 9, 00196, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1134-7849
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Accoroni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Romagnoli
authors.affiliation: Consorzio Interuniversitario Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Via Flaminio 9, 00196, Roma, Italy.|Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari, Università di Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61100, Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penna
authors.affiliation: Consorzio Interuniversitario Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Via Flaminio 9, 00196, Roma, Italy.|Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari, Università di Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61100, Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Samuela
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Capellacci
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via D. Montesano 49, 80131, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciminiello
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via D. Montesano 49, 80131, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dell'Aversano
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via D. Montesano 49, 80131, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tartaglione
authors.affiliation: National Council for Scientific Research/National Center for Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 534, Batroun, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abboud-Abi Saab
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giussani
authors.affiliation: Consorzio Interuniversitario Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Via Flaminio 9, 00196, Roma, Italy.|Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Asnaghi
authors.affiliation: Consorzio Interuniversitario Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Via Flaminio 9, 00196, Roma, Italy.|Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariachiara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiantore
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.|Consorzio Interuniversitario Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Via Flaminio 9, 00196, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Totti
mesh_terms: D003535:Cyprus; D048028:DNA, Algal / Q000235:genetics; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007861:Lebanon; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D048028:DNA, Algal
keywords: 
  Ostreopsis
  ; Mediterranean Sea; benthic dinoflagellates; harmful algae; nutrients; ovatoxins; palytoxins; phylogeny; taxonomy