Sampling
Phytoplankton samples were collected with vertical net hauls (mesh size
– 25 µm and net diameter – 30 cm) in multiple locations along
Vietnamese coastal waters (Fig. 1a). The samples were fixed with
formaldehyde to a final concentration of approximately 5% and then
stored in 25 ml dark glass bottles at the Institute of Oceanography (Nha
Trang, Viet Nam). Additionally, dinoflagellate samples collected in
waters surrounding Hormuz Island in the Strait of Hormuz (Persian Gulf)
were examined during the study. In total, ten samples were collected
with a plankton net (mesh size – 55 μm) from five sites (Fig. 1b). At
first, the material was studied in vivo at the laboratory of the
Department of Marine Biology of Tarbiat Modares University (Iran), and
then it was preserved in formaldehyde (4% final concentration).
Subsequent study of the material was carried out at the Institute for
Evolutionary Ecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
(Kiev, Ukraine).