### microprotozoan:

Dinoflagellate
* Many dinoflagellates are colorless and live as heterotrophs and parasites
  - colorless, but nonetheless, fall under the rubric of red tides
  - have a complex life cycle that includes a resting stage
* Many dinoflagellates produce defensive trichocysts, often hundreds per cell
  - strong toxins
  - use urea as a preferred nitrogen source
* Most dinoflagellates are encased in plates of armor
  - harmless
  - marine organisms, although some have been found in freshwater environments
  - quite harmless
  - single celled autotrophs with two whiplike appendages called flagella
  - unicellular forms with two flagella
  - unicellular, but some are colonial
* Most dinoflagellates have certain characteristics
  - identify characteristics
  - nuclei
  - rigid cellulose plates and a pair of flagella in perpendicular grooves
  - reproduce asexually through the process of mitosis
* Some dinoflagellates also possess membrane bound kleptoplastids.
* Some dinoflagellates are bioluminescent, and others live symbiotically with corals
  - heterotrophic
* Some dinoflagellates can photosynthesize, while others are strictly heterotrophic
  - produce toxins that are released into seawater
  - respond repetitively to excitation over a short period
  - consume the scales of the dead fish as they sink
  - eat other plants or eat small or large animals
  - even parasitize other parasitic dinoflagellates
  - feed on other microorganisms, while others produce energy using photosynthesis
  - form mutualistic symbioses with cnidarians, animals that build coral reefs
* Some dinoflagellates have ability
  - nutrients
  - organelles
  - photosynthetic organelles
  - responses
  - roles
  - similar roles
  - symbiotic roles
  - live as floating rounded forms that look like algae
  - make their own energy from sunlight, like plants
* Some dinoflagellates produce blooms or red tides
  - chemicals
  - neurotoxins
  - toxins that are among the most poisonous known
  - undergo photosynthesis
* account for most of the bioluminescence observed in surface waters.
* also have cell walls made of cellulose plates that look like armor
  - produce some of the luminescence sometimes seen in the sea
  - release a toxin that kills fish
* are a group of microscopic one-celled microorganisms
  - single-celled algae with a nucleus
* are also responsible for ciguatera and other shellfish poisonings
  - toxic algal blooms such as red tides
* are another group of golden-brown algae that also have flagella
  - major group of net phytoplank- ton
* are common components of marine and freshwater phytoplankton
  - organisms in all types of aquatic ecosystems
  - comparatively large flagellates
* are considered to be amongst the most primative of the eukaryotes
  - protists , with their own division, Dinoflagellata
  - found in both freshwater and saltwater
  - key players in aquatic ecosystems
  - marine protozoans in the class Dinoflagellata
  - microorganisms that are regarded as algae
  - mixotrophic microorganisms that can survive with or without light
  - most typical of warm waters and can reproduce in staggering numbers
* are mostly marine
  - unicellular but some are colonial
  - motile and swim by two flagella, which are movable protein strands
  - noteworthy for several reasons
  - on a circadian rhythm
* are photosynthetic creatures surrounded by three separate membranes
  - protists found in both fresh and salt water
  - photosynthetic, so the only necessity is light
* are primarily asexual in reproduction
  - primitive single-celled organisms that have two flagella for locomotion
  - probably more closely related to zooflagellates than to any phylum of the algae
  - single celled, they mostly live in salt water but some live in fresh water
* are the most common sources of bioluminescence at the surface of the ocean
  - bioluminescence in the surface waters of the ocean
  - therefore an important source of food in certain ecosystems
  - unicellular forms with one to three flagellae
* are unicellular organisms that have two unequal flagella
  - which exhibit a great diversity of form
  - protists which exhibit a great diversity of form
* become abundant during the spring and summer.
* can also reproduce very quickly when conditions are good.
* change form during their life cycle.
* color the water in a British Columbia bay.
* come in many shapes.
* contain a lot of DNA, which explains the large size of the nucleus
  - chlorophyll as well as carotenoids and red pigments
* exist in tumultuous environments in the natural world.
* form a major part of primary planktonic production in oceans.
* have a flagella and can swim in open waters
  - relatively large amount of DNA and a large nucleus
  - armor like dinos and a pair of whips
  - cell walls that are made out of cellulose
  - chlorophyll and so can make their own food
  - glass shells pierced with tiny pores
  - one or more flagella
  - two dissimilar flagella
* have two flagella of unequal length that are oriented perpendicular to each other
  - or tails and have skeletons of cellulose
  - that can be used for movement
* includes cell membranes
  - cells
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - lips
  - mouths
  - plasma membranes
  - sections
  - vacuoles
* make a compound that turns the flesh of fish into slime
  - up part of plankton, a drifting mass of water organisms
* move by means of their flagellum
  - with a flagellum, a whip-like tail
* only emit bioluminescence during their night phase.
* play an important part in aquatic ecosystems by providing food for other organisms.
* produce characteristic lipids and sterols
  - neurotoxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning and ciguatera
  - the toxin, which herbivorous fish consume
* require nitrate, phosphate, trace metals, and vitamins.
* secrete a compound that turns the flesh of fish into slime.
* share both animal and plant traits.
* store their energy as oils or polysaccharides.
* usually reproduce asexually.
+ Algae, Life style, Ecology
  * Some algae may harm other species. Some algae may reproduce a lot, and make an algal bloom. These algae may produce protective toxins which can kill fish in the water. Dinoflagellates secrete a compound that turns the flesh of fish into slime. The algae then consume this nutritious liquid.