Morphological features of dinoflagellate cysts in southern coastal areas of Korea

Abstract

Marine dinoflagellate are a major component in plankton communities and play an important role as primary produced in marine ecosystem. Some 200 of the approximate 2000 exsisting species of marine dinoflagellates are known to form resting cysts in a part of their life cycle. Although the morphological characteristics and distribution of dinoflagellate cysts have been widely investigated in many coastal areas of the world, the knowledge-base in Korean coastal areas remains limited. Here we provide the description of dinoflagellate cysts to help a better understanding of the morphological features of dinoflagellate cysts observed in southern coastal areas of Koreaing cysts