Subsurface patch of a dinoflagellate (Ceratium tripos) off Southern California: patch length, growth rate, associated vertically migrating species

C. tripos dominated a multi-species dinoflagellate patch in the sub-surface chlorophyll maximum in August 1978 on the Southern California shelf. The specific growth rate ( mu ) of C. tripos averaged 0.25 d super(-1). Patch length was about 45 km along the shelf. Several members of the subsurface dinoflagellate assemblage were also present in surface samples, but only during the daytime. These apparent vertical migrators included Prorocentrum micans, C. furca, Gonyaulax polyedra and other less common forms. The growth of C. tripos in the California patch is compared with that in a C. tripos patch off New York in 1976.