Phaeocystis rex sp nov (Phaeocystales, Prymnesiophyceae): a new solitary species that produces a multilayered scale cell covering

A morphologically distinct marine species, Phaeocystis rex sp. nov., was described on the basis of light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and DNA sequence comparisons. Non-motile cells were solitary (non-colonial), 6-10 mu m in diameter and 8-15 mu m long, and possessed chloroplasts with distinctive finger-like lobes. TEM observations demonstrated the presence of two short flagella and a very short haptonema that arose from an invagination of the protoplast. Non-motile cells were surrounded by one to several dense layers composed of scales, presumably unmineralized, and an amorphous material. Phylogenetic analyses based upon combined partial nucleotide sequences for five nuclear- or plastid-encoded genes (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, 16S rRNA, psbA and rbcL) from cultured strains and from uncharacterized acantharian symbionts confirmed that P. rex was a distinct species. These analyses implied that P. rex occupies an intermediate evolutionary position between solitary and colonial Phaeocystis species.