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. The morphology of dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) is related not only to thegenetics of the motile dinoflagellate from which it derives, but is alsodependent on a range of environmental factors including salinity, temperatureand nutrient status. Although this knowledge improves our understanding ofthe drivers behind dinocyst morphological variations, it makes the taxonomygoverning their description somewhat complex. In basins such as the BlackSea, where environmental change can be extreme and occurs on relatively short(millennial) timescales, taxonomy becomes particularly challenging.Morphological continua can be observed between described forms, displaying alarge range of intermediate phenotypes that do not necessarily correspond toany genetic difference. As these morphological nuances may preserveinformation about palaeoenvironments, it is important to find a systematicmethod of characterising morphotypes. Here, we show a dinocyst matrix withinwhich dinocysts are described according to their similarity to (or differencefrom) described forms based on key descriptive parameters. In the example setout here, cyst shape and degree of process and/or ectophragmdevelopment are taken as two key parameters in Pyxidinopsis psilata and Spiniferites cruciformis, and can allow the description ofintermediate forms even though the definitions do not overlap. We review some frequently occurring morphotypes and propose that usingmatrices to show the gradual variation between endmember forms is the mostpragmatic approach until cyst–theca studies and genetic sequencing can beused to demonstrate relationships between genotypes and morphotypes. As priorstudies propose salinity to be a primary driver of intraspecific variability,the endmembers presented may represent salinity extremes within an overallbrackish environment. Although we cannot assign each morphotype to a value ora range of an environmental parameter (e.g. salinity) as the differentmorphotypes can occur in the same sample, using this matrix allowspreservation of information about morphological variability without creatingtaxonomic categories that are likely to require alteration if geneticevidence becomes available.

Where should we draw the lines between dinocyst “species”? Morphological continua in Black Sea dinocysts