Haptophyte algae of Vietnamese waters. The orders Phaeocystales, Prymnesiales and Isochrysidales (Prymnesiophyceae)

Abstract

Previous studies of haptophyte algae in the South China Sea have only reported on the coccolithophorids. However, 115 haptophyte taxa were encountered in the region during the present study (1999–2006), of which 21 of them belong to the orders Phaeocystales, Prymnesiales, and Isochrysidales. Each species is described and illustrated by scanning and/or transmission electron micrographs. This is the first of five papers dealing with the taxonomy, abundance and distribution of haptophytes in the South China Sea.