INCLUSION-BODIES IN SEVERAL SPECIES OF CERATIUM SCHRANK (DINOPHYCEAE) FROM THE CARIBBEAN SEA EXAMINED WITH DNA-SPECIFIC STAINING

Several dinoflagellate species in the genus Ceratium Schrank were examined, with the help of a DNA-specific dye. for the presence of a nucleus. chloroplasts and inclusion bodies. The abundance of Ceratium in the Caribbean Sea in April 1990 was between 1.3 and 4.9 x 10(5) cells m-3 Most Ceratium teres Kofoid contained 5-10 small chloroplasts and among 5-19 C.teres cells. 8% possessed an inclusion body. The shape and size of inclusion bodies varied. and 7% of the inclusions had a DNA-containing particle inside. Similar inclusion bodies were also observed in declinatum f. normale Jorgensen. Ceratium furca (Ehrenberg) Claparede and Lachmann, and Ceratium fusus (Ehrenberg) Dujardin. Our observations indicated that inclusion bodies are common in oceanic Ceratium.