Transcript Dinoflagellates - Acadia University

Lauren MacLeod
100056772
Ceratium lineatus
Dinoflagellates
Geology 3213
Micropaleontology
November 18th, 2005
What are Dinoflagellates?
Ceratium hirundiella, a
freshwater dinoflagellate
• Microscopic ‘algae’like organisms
• Members of the
Protista kingdom
• 20-150 µm
• The theca is
made of
cellulose
plates
What are Dinoflagellates?
Florentinia
• 90% are marine plankton
SEM Image
• ½ are photosynthetic
• Many can be found as symbiotic partners
to sponges, corals, jellyfish and flatworms
• Dinoflagellates are primarily asexual, and
reproduce by mitosis, only a few species
have been found to reproduce sexually
Taxonomy
Kingdom Protoctista
Phylum Pyrrophyta
Class Dinophyceae
Order Lophodiniales
Peridiniopsis quadridens
Family Ceratiaceae
Genus Ceratium
C. tripos
Order Peridiniales
Family Gonyaulacaceae
Genus Gonyaulax
Woloszynskia coronata
G. polyedra
Note the sulcul flagellum
Morphology
Longitidunal
Life Cycle
Movement
• Dinoflagellates move
by ‘whirling’ their
flagella, and swim in a
spiral fashion
• Species such as
Ceratium are slow
moving, while
Gyroidinium are fast
moving
Ceritinium ranipes has
‘arms’ that look like a
frog’s legs
Gyrodinium spiralis
Bioluminescence
• Members of the phylum Phyrrophyta, meaning ‘FirePlant’
• Produce light when LUCIFERIN is oxidized by
LUCIFERASE (enzyme), when ATP and oxygen are
present
• The dinoflagellates glow as it gets dark and brighten
when agitated (such as in the wake of a ship)
• Noctiluca was the first genus where this was noted, but it
has been discovered that it occurs in several marine
species
Red Tides
• Late summer, upwelling causes a burst of
dinoflagellates (up to 20 million/liter), causing
the water to have a reddish color
• The dinoflagellates produce high quantities of
neurotoxins which travel up the food chain
• Humans are influenced by contracting
CIGUATERA and then PSP or paralytic shellfish
poisoning
• Saxitoxin – 100,000 times more potent then
cocaine
• Gessnerium monilatum is the most common
PSP producer in the N. Atlantic
Palentological Significance
Triassic to Pleistocene dinoflagellate
zonations are correlated with:
1. Cretaceous to Tertiary planktonic
foraminiferal and calcareous nanofossil
zones
2. Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonite
zones
3. An absolute time scale and sequence
stratigraphy.
Fossil Record
• Dinoflagellate cysts
were first found in late
Triassic rocks
• Diverse and abundant
cysts increase in Md.
Jurassic
• Cysts still occur in
present marine
sedimentary rocks
and some non-marine
strata
Late Jurassic cyst
Systematophora
penicillata
Stephanelytron
redcliffense a Late
Jurassic dinoflagellate
cyst
Pfiesteria piscicida
• This unique species of
recent dinoflagellate is a
“Fish Killer”
• It produces a toxin which
attacks the surface of fish
• Once the toxin attacks
the surface of the fish, P.
piscicida feeds on the
disaggregated and
decomposing fish carcass
Other Dinoflagellate Forms
References
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http://hjem.get2net.dk/niels_e_poulsen/dino/dino-uk.htm
http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/organism/pictures/dinos.html
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/dinoflagellate.html#range
http://www.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/palynology/dinoflagellates/dinof
lagellates.html
http://geology.er.usgs.gov/paleo/dinoflag.shtml
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflagellata.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflaglh.html
http://www.microscopyuk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopyuk.org.uk/mag/artsep01/dinof.html