Syracosphaera pemmadiscus sp. nov. (Prymnesiophyceae), an extant coccolithophore from the southwest Pacific Ocean near New Zealand

Abstract

Chang F.H. 2013. Syracosphaera pemmadiscus sp. nov. (Prymnesiophyceae), an extant coccolithophore from the southwest Pacific Ocean near New Zealand. Phycologia 52: 618–624. DOI: 10.2216/13-180.1

A new taxon, Syracosphaera pemmadiscus sp. nov., collected from the southwest Pacific Ocean near New Zealand, was described based on the morphological structure of both exo-and endothecal coccoliths. Both the elliptical exo- and endothecal coccoliths of Syracosphaera pemmadiscus were very small (<2 μm). The exothecal coccoliths were dimorphic, while the body coccoliths (muroliths) were monomorphic. Muroliths were deeply fluted with their upper wall flared outward into a distal flange, while the lower wall extended outward into a proximal flange. This new species has only been recorded in the Subantarctic and Subtropical Front waters to the east of New Zealand. Because Syracosphaera pemmadiscus sp. nov. has features typical of members of the Syracosphaera molischii group, it is proposed that this taxon to be added to this group.

Key Words::

• Body coccoliths
• Coccosphere
• Dimorphic
• Distal Flange
• Dithecate
• Monomorphic
• Muroliths
• Proximal flange
• Syracosphaera pemmadiscus

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank Drs. Janet Grieve and Wendy Nelson of NIWA, Wellington for their constructive criticisms of this manuscript, Lisa Northcote for collecting the samples, Dr Cliff Law for initiating and coordinating the coccolithophore surveys, and last but not least, Dr A. Kleijne of Geomarine Centre, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherland, and Dr L. Cros of Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Spain, for the confirmation of this new taxon. Funding from the Ministry of Fisheries (now Ministry for Primary Industries) and from NIWA under Coasts and Oceans Research Programme 2 (2012/13 SCI) provided support for this work.