Prorocentrum ruetzlerianum Faust, 1990b
Species Overview:
Prorocentrum ruetzlerianum is an armoured, marine, benthic dinoflagellate species. This species is associated with floating detritus and sediment in tropical embayments of the Caribbean Sea.
Taxonomic Description:
P. ruetzlerianum is a bivalvate species often observed in valve view. Cells are round to ovoid with an average diameter of 28-35 µm. Valve centers are slightly concave (Figs. 1,3,4). The entire valve surface is deeply areolate; the areolae are ovate to pentagonal deep depressions (Figs. 1-4). Each areola houses a central round pore (1 µm diameter) (Fig. 3). Approximately 500-550 areolae are present on each theca, along with 70-80 evenly spaced marginal areolae. The intercalary band is broad and transversely rugose with long sinuous rugae (Figs. 3,4); viewed with LM, the valve margins have a distinct striated pattern (Figs. 5-7). This type of intercalary band is unique to this species (Faust, 1990b).
The periflagellar area is relatively small, without ornamentation, and set into a shallow, V-shaped depression on the right valve (Figs. 2,3). The flagellar pore is much larger than the auxiliary pore (Fig. 2) (Faust, 1990b).
Morphology and Structure:
Prorocentrum ruetzlerianum is a photosynthetic species with golden chloroplasts, a centrally located pyrenoid (Figs. 5,6), and a posterior nucleus (Faust, 1990b).
Reproduction:
Prorocentrum ruetzlerianum reproduces asexually by binary fission.
Species Comparison:
There are several deeply areolated Prorocentrum species all with varying amounts of areolae per valve: P. hoffmannianum has approximately 670 round to oval areolae per valve (1.1 µm diameter) (Faust, 1990b); P. belizeanum has about 853-1024 round to oval areolae per valve (0.73 µm diameter) (Faust, 1993a); P. sabulosum has about 391 round to oval areolae per valve (1.3 µm diameter) (Faust, 1994); and P. ruetzlerianum has about 550 pentagonal-shaped areolae per valve (1.0 µm diameter) (Faust, 1990b).
Ecology:
P. ruetzlerianum is a benthic species associated with floating detritus and sediment. This is not a common species and is often in low numbers when present. Cells are motile or attach to detrital particles (Faust, 1990b).
Toxicity:
Quod (pers. com.) has shown that this species is a toxin producer; however, the toxin principals have yet to be determined.
Habitat and Locality:
Populations of P. ruetzlerianum are often associated with floating detritus and sediments in tropical coastal regions of the Caribbean Sea (Faust, 1990b). |
