A determination key for modern dinoflagellate cysts

Abstract

The first online modern organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst determination key has been launched at www.marum.de/dinocystkey.html. This key is based on easily recognisable morphological features of dinoflagellate cysts that can be observed using standard transmitted light microscopy. To date, the key includes 96 cyst species that can be found in late Quaternary marine sediments. This key is free of charge to users, and will be continuously updated and improved by the authors. For each individual species of dinoflagellate cyst, the website provides information on its defining morphological characteristics and the cyst–motile stage relationship. It gives a comparison with other morphologically similar taxa, links to publications with original cyst descriptions and outlines their modern global distribution where this information is available. All species descriptions are illustrated by line drawings showing their most distinctive characteristics, and accompanied by high-quality bright-field photomicrographs. The key is compatible with all major computing platforms (including smartphones) and software.

Keywords:

• dinoflagellate cysts
• taxonomy
• late Quaternary
• identification key

Acknowledgements

We thank the MARUM Information Technology (IT) services team who made the online posting of this key possible, and for their technical support. We are very grateful to Martin Head, Ian Harding and James Riding for their constructive comments and suggestions. Partial funding for this work was provided to VP by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karin A.F. Zonneveld

KARIN ZONNEVELD is a senior scientist at the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, Germany, where she leads the Marine Palynology Division in the Department of Marine Micropalaeontology. She received her PhD from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and her Habilitation from the University of Bremen. Karin's research is multidisciplinary, and combines marine palynology with biological and geological palaeoceanography, environmental science and organic geochemistry. The focus of her research is on the application and development of marine palynomorphs, notably dinoflagellate cysts, as tools to establish palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic reconstructions. In particular, Karin is interested in the effects of variable environmental conditions on the geographical distribution, preservation and production of palynomorphs. The work on preservation levels includes the study of the effects of early diagenetic processes on the organic geochemical characteristics of the palynomorphs.

Vera Pospelova

VERA POSPELOVA is an Associate Professor at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She received her BSc in geology from Novosibirsk University in Russia, and her PhD from McGill University, Quebec, Canada. Vera's research is multidisciplinary, and encompasses biological and geological oceanography, environmental science and sedimentary geology. She applies her palynological skills in palaeoenvironmental studies on a variety of domestic and international research projects. These include the taxonomy of late Quaternary dinoflagellate cysts, the seasonal dynamics of dinoflagellates and their cysts in the coastal eastern North Pacific, the use of dinoflagellate cysts as indicators of water quality (with emphasis on eutrophication and pollution in North American estuaries) and palaeoceanographical reconstructions using dinoflagellate cysts.