Dinoflagellate Cyst Distribution in Recent Sediments of Gwater Bay in the Northeast of Oman Sea in the Pre-and Post-Monsoon Season

Cysts produced by dinoflagellates act as the seeds involved in the initiation of algal bloom through blooming and at the end of bloom through the reformation of cysts. Therefore, they are of great importance in environmental studies. In this study, sampling of sediments in the Gwater Bay, located on Iran's southeast coast and the northeast of the Oman Sea, was done in the spring (pre-monsoon) and summer (post-monsoon) of 2013 to examine the distribution and abundance of dinoflagellate cysts. Twenty-four species belonging to 12 genera of the dinoflagellate cysts were identified for the first time in this area. The results of ANOVA indicated no significant difference between the abundance of cysts in different seasons. A study of the Shannon index in this area revealed a high diversity and abundance in the study area. In this study, 8 species of dinoflagellate were found as potentially toxic species.