Flagellates and Tintinnids along the central coast in the Brazilian EEZ (OBIS South America, BRAZIL)

Indeed, illustrated guides of plankton organisms, especially from offshore regions, are lacking for Brazilian waters. This guide presents the first compilation of 314 species of Dinoflagellates and Tintinnids and it is organized in 3 (three) Chapters and 1 (one) Appendix. Chapter I provides the reader with information about the main characteristics of Dinoflagellates and Tintinnids, about the study area, about the field and the laboratory methods used, as well as some general comments about the ecology of the species considered most relevant in terms of occurrence and abundance.

Chapter II (THE DINOFLAGELLATES) and Chapter III (THE TINTINNIDS) present a dichotomous identification key associated with an illustrated description at the genus level (11 genera of Dinoflagellates and 30 of Tintinnids). For each species illustrated, we provide a description of the main characteristics, morphometric data, taxonomic references and maps of distribution. A glossary of the main terms used in the description of genera and species is provided at the end of each chapter.

The Appendix gives a complete species list within a taxonomic classification system, according to their occurrences at each sampling site. The references included at the end of each chapter are: (i) those that include information about general, methodological and ecological aspects of plankton (Chapter 1) and (ii) those that were used for species identification and taxonomic classification (Chapters 2 and 3).