Southwest Missouri State University 901 S. National Ave. Lecture 16 Table of Contents Reproduction in the Dinoflagellates Red Tides Orders of Dinoflagellates Gymnodiniales Peridiniales Dinophysiales Prorocentrales Assignment Internet Resources Reproduction in the Dinoflagellates Cell division is through cleaveage of the parental cell into two products. In armoured cells, the plane of division usually passes through the epicone and proceeds down through the sulcus, separating the paired flagella.
Sexual reproduction involves the fusion of isogametes and anisogametes.
Red Tides . Ptichodiscus brevis formerly known as Gymnodinium brevis forms brevetoxin that results in death in fish populations Another taxon, Protogonyaulax catenella forms a toxin, saxitoxin, that is a neurotoxin that results in paralysis and suffocation. Shellfish are able to survive after ingesting cells from blooms of Protogonyaulax but humans who consume the shellfish suffer debiliating illness. Gambeirdiscus toxicus is another dinoflagellate that produces a toxin that causes an illness termed ciguatera in humans. Those persons who consume fish that have grazed tropical seaweeds harboring this dinoflagellate as an epiphytes transfer the toxin to the human.