Lauren MacLeod

100056772

Ceratium
lineatus Phylum Pyrrophyta

Geology 3213
Micropaleontology
November 18th, 2005
 pigments
 chl a,c
 carotenoids
 peridinum
 cell wall
 cellulose
 food storage
 starch
 Examples:
dinoflagellates
 unicellular
 habitat
 fresh/salt
 motile:
 biflagellates
 Dinoflagelates
 some photosynthetic and
some are heterotrophs
 Reproduction: most
asexually by binary fission
 Many are luminescent
when agitated
 pyrrophyta- means “fire
plants”
 Fire Algae
 chlorophyll a & c
 carotenoids
 xanthophylls
 1 lateral & 1 posterior flagellum
 produces a spinning motion
 cell wall of cellulose
 marine and freshwater
 Red Tides
• Dinoflagellates
• Cellulose in plasma
membrane
• Unicellular
• Chlorophyll a and c,
carotene, xanthins
• Store starch
• Some are symbionts in
marine animals
• Neurotoxins cause
paralytic shellfish
poisoning
Figure 12.14
 “Fire Algae”
 store food as STARCH
 2 flagellum: 1 lateral & 1 posterior
 produces a spinning motion
 cellwall of cellulose
 marine and freshwater
 cause Red Tides
 Division PYRROPHYTA
Some General Characteristics

* Marine or freshwater
* Contain chlorophyll a and c, peridinin and other
carotenoids
* Cell wall of armor-like cellulose plates;
sometimes absent
* The carbohydrate stored is starch
* Flagella two, lateral, tinsel, one belt-like, one
trailing
 The “armor-plating” of Dinoflagellates

‘Sculpturing’ of
the thecae

Peridinium and Gonyaulax

 “Red Tides”

* Blooms of Gymnodinium breve cause fish death,

e.g. off the Florida gulf coast
* Blooms of Gonyaulax can poison molluscs and
other invertebrates
* Blooms of Gonyaulax tamarensis (east coast) and
Gymnodinium catenella (west coast) cause PSP
(paralytic shellfish poisoning) in humans and other
vertebrates, due to concentration of the toxins by
filter-feeders
* The toxins involved are nerve poisons
 Bioluminescence in
Dinoflagellates
* Can be a persistent glow or flashes of light
when water is disturbed
*Generation of light requires ATP, oxygen, the
substrate LUCIFERIN and the enzyme
LUCIFERASE
* The function of
bioluminescence in
dinoflagellates
remains an enigma

Noctiluca
 Symbiosis in Dinoflagellates and
Closely-Related Cryptomonads -
Zooxanthellae
* Found in sponges,
jellyfish, sea
anemones, corals,
flatworms, etc.
* In case of corals,
they provide carbon
dioxide, protection
and nutrients (wastes)
*In case of algae, they
provide oxygen,
waste removal &
carbohydrates Zooxanthellae in coral
One of the
dinoflagellates that
causes Red Tides
 Generally unicellular, may form colonies or
filaments
 Chlorophyll a and a range of other pigments
giving lots of different colours
 Numerous colourless genera (animal-like):
heterotrophic!
 2 flagella:
 one apically inserted
 one in equatorial groove (=‘horizontal slit’)
Importance:

 Harmful algal blooms

 Toxic algal blooms: shellfish
poisoning
 Parasites: fish and copepodes
 Symbionts: sponges
 oftenthe cause of “red tides” or blooms of
toxic or non-toxic cells
 blooms may cause mass mortalities of marine
and freshwater organisms

 contain toxins that are accumulated by

shellfish and cause PSP (Paralytic Shellfish
Poisoning)
 Somespecies produce small amounts of light
by means of enzymes
 They have two flagella and may have armor (cellulose
plates) or may be naked (without armor).
Dinoflagellates have pigments and can carry on
photosynthesis. Major component of phytoplankton.
 Gonyaulax
 Red tide
 Paralytic shellfish poisoning
 Noctiluca miliaris
 Bioluminescent
 Dinoflagellates-Phylum Dinophyta
 Euglenoids: phylum
 Haptophytes: phylum
 Heterokonts- Oomycetes,
Diatoms, Phaeophyta

Most important eukaryotic

members of the marine
phytoplanton and therefore
essential to the support of marine
animal life
 Molecular systematic data- Related to ciliated
protozoa such as Paramecium and Vorticella
 Unicellular biflagellates
 Marine and freshwater
 Some dinoflagellates are nonmotile
 Reproduction- longitudinal cell division
 About half lack a photosynthetic mechanism
 Ingest solid food particles (tubular process
peduncle suction organic material)
 Or absorb dissolved organic compounds
 Many photosynthetic dinoflagellates can feed
in these ways-
 Mixotrophy- the ability to utilize both organic
and inorganic carbon sources.
 Toxic glycoside released by activated
dinoflagellate cysts
 Paralyze the respiratory tract, dinoflagellates
feed on fish then return to cyst stage
  Microscopic ‘algae’-
like organisms
 Members of the
Protista kingdom
 20-150 µm
 The theca is
made of
Ceratium hirundiella, a cellulose
freshwater dinoflagellate
plates
 90% are marine plankton Florentinia
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
 Kingdom Protoctista
Phylum Pyrrophyta
Class Dinophyceae
Order Lophodiniales
Peridiniopsis quadridens
Family Ceratiaceae
Genus Ceratium
C. tripos
Order Peridiniales
Family Gonyaulacaceae
Woloszynskia coronata Genus Gonyaulax
Note the sulcul flagellum G. polyedra
Longitidunal
 Dinoflagellates move
by ‘whirling’ their
flagella, and swim in
a spiral fashion Gyrodinium spiralis

 Species such as
Ceratium are slow
moving, while
Gyroidinium are fast
moving
Ceritinium ranipes has
‘arms’ that look like a
frog’s legs
 Members of the phylum Phyrrophyta, meaning
‘Fire-Plant’
 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
 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
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.
 Dinoflagellate cysts
were first found in Late Jurassic cyst
late Triassic rocks Systematophora
penicillata
 Diverse and abundant
cysts increase in Md.
Jurassic
 Cysts still occur in
present marine Stephanelytron
sedimentary rocks redcliffense a Late
and some non-marine Jurassic dinoflagellate
cyst
strata
 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
 Examples:
dinoflagellates
 unicellular
 habitat
 fresh/salt
 motile:
 biflagellates
cause “red tide”
often phosphorescent
Algal bloom
Toxins
 Pigment
 chl a,b
 carotenoids
 fucoxanthin
 cell wall
 silica cell wall
 food storage
 oil
 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.ht
ml#range
 http://www.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/palynology/dinoflag
ellates/dinoflagellates.html
 http://geology.er.usgs.gov/paleo/dinoflag.shtml
 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflagellata.ht
ml
 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflaglh.html
 http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/artsep01/dinof.html