Preliminary study on taxonomy of dinoflagellate cysts from major estuary and bays of Fujian Province, China

According to the morphology, wall structure, color, ornamentation, etc., 25 species belonging to 9 genera are identified and described from 144 sediment samples of the Xiamen Harbor, the mouth of the Minjiang River and the Sansha Bay. Among them there are 2 toxic species:Alexandrium minutun, A. tamarenes, 4 harmful species:Alexandrium affine, Lingulodinium polyedrum, Scrippsiella trochoide, Gonyaulax spinifera. It shows that 11 species of dinoflagellate cysts (Alexandrium affine, A. minutum, Diplopelta cf. parva, Polykrikos cf. schwartzii, protoceratium reticulatum, Protoperidinium minutum, P. cf. minutum,P. cf americanum and Alexandrium sp., Protoperidinium sp. 1, P. sp. 2) are first recorded along the coast of Fujian Province, China. These newly discovered species might be transported to the coastal sea of Fujian Province by ballast water of international trade vessels.