In temperate neritic ecosystem, the phytoplankton community is mainly
composed of two dominant algal taxa, diatoms and dinoflagellates, and they play
an important role as a primary producer. Of these, dinoflagellates are known to
cause red tide outbreaks and even to produce toxin. Recently, red tide events have
frequently occurred in several embayments of the Korean coast and have brought
serious damage to inshore fisheries. Thus, the red tide research activities including
the taxonomy as well as distribution of toxic dinoflagellates have received
ever increasing attention in Korean waters. A taxonomic
survey of the dinoflagellate family Ceratiaceae was conducted on 17 locations off the
coast of