Alexandrium leei Balech

Hernández-Becerril, David U., Pichardo-Velarde, Jorge G., Alonso-Rodríguez, Rosalba, Maciel-Baltazar, Ebodio, Morquecho, Lourdes, Esqueda-Lara, Karina, Barón-Campis, Sofía A. & Quiroz-González, Nataly, 2023, Diversity and distribution of species of the planktonic dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium (Dinophyta) from the tropical and subtropical Mexican Pacific Ocean, Botanica Marina (Warsaw, Poland) 66 (6), pp. 539-557 : 544

3.1.4 Alexandrium leei Balech ( Figures 20 and 21 )

References: Balech 1995, 35, pl. IV, figs 20–28, pl. V, figs 1–13; Usup et al. 2002, 268, figs 3 A–D; Nguyen and Larsen 2004, 97, pl. 10, figs 1–7; Tang et al. 2007, 545, figs 1 a–I; Gu et al. 2013, 75, figs 3 F–M; Lassus et al. 2016, 47, pl. 6 A–D.

Solitary and relatively large cells with a somewhat ovoid to spherical shape, slightly asymmetric. Epitheca conical convex, slightly shorter than epitheca, with non-prominent apical pore ( Figure 20 ). Wide cingulum and sulcus ( Figure 21 ). Chloroplasts radiating from the center ( Figure 20 ). First apical plate (1′) rhomboidal, fairly wide and elongate, with a small ventral pore ( Figure 21 ), sixth precingular plate (6″) relatively small and pentagonal ( Figure 21 ).

Measurements: 50–58 μm L, 49–55 μm W (Table 1).

Toxicity: this species is considered to be potentially ichthyotoxic ( Tang et al. 2007).

Distribution: in the Gulf of Tehuantepec.

Figures

Figures 20–21: Alexandrium leei, LM. (20) Recently fixed cell in ventral view. (21) An empty cell in ventral view showing plate tabulation, arrow indicates the ventral pore in the first apical plate (1′).