Editing Dinoflagellate (section)

==Classification==
{{Further|Wikispecies:Dinoflagellata}}

===Generality===
[[File:Britannica Dinoflagellata 2.jpg|thumb|right|1. ''[[Ornithocercus]]''; 2. diagram; 3. ''[[Exuviaella]]''; 4. ''[[Prorocentrum]]''; 5, 6. ''[[Ceratium]]''; 7. ''[[Warnowia fusus|Warnowia]]''; 8. ''[[Citharistes]]''; 9. ''[[Polykrikos]]'']]
Dinoflagellates are protists and have been classified using both the [[International Code of Botanical Nomenclature]] (ICBN, now renamed as ICN) and the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]] (ICZN). About half of living dinoflagellate species are autotrophs possessing chloroplasts and half are nonphotosynthesising heterotrophs.

The [[peridinin]] dinoflagellates, named after their peridinin plastids, appear to be ancestral for the dinoflagellate lineage. Almost half of all known species have chloroplasts, which are either the original peridinin plastids or new plastids acquired from other lineages of unicellular algae through endosymbiosis. The remaining species have lost their photosynthetic abilities and have adapted to a heterotrophic, parasitic or [[Kleptoplasty|kleptoplastic]] lifestyle.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gabrielsen TM, Minge MA, Espelund M, Tooming-Klunderud A, Patil V, Nederbragt AJ, Otis C, Turmel M, Shalchian-Tabrizi K, Lemieux C, Jakobsen KS | title = Genome evolution of a tertiary dinoflagellate plastid | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | pages = e19132 | date = April 2011 | pmid = 21541332 | pmc = 3082547 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0019132 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2011PLoSO...619132G }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/09670260600961080 | volume=41 | title=Did the peridinin plastid evolve through tertiary endosymbiosis? A hypothesis | year=2006 | journal=European Journal of Phycology | pages=435–448 | vauthors = Bodył A, Moszczyński K | issue=4 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2006EJPhy..41..435B }}</ref>

Most (but not all) dinoflagellates have a [[dinokaryon]], described below (see: [[#Life cycle|Life cycle]], below). Dinoflagellates with a dinokaryon are classified under [[Dinokaryota]], while dinoflagellates without a dinokaryon are classified under [[Syndiniales]].

Although classified as [[eukaryotes]], the dinoflagellate nuclei are not characteristically eukaryotic, as some of them lack [[histones]] and [[nucleosomes]], and maintain continually condensed chromosomes during [[mitosis]]. The dinoflagellate nucleus was termed 'mesokaryotic' by Dodge (1966),<ref>Dodge (1966). Cited but unreferenced in {{cite book |author1=Steidinger KA |author2=Jangen K |chapter=Dinoflagellates | veditors = Tomas CR |year=1997 |title=Identifying Marine Phytoplankton |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WLABHmo-K8C&pg=PA387 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-0805-3442-8 |pages=387–584 |access-date=2016-03-05 |archive-date=2014-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707091615/http://books.google.com/books?id=8WLABHmo-K8C&pg=PA387 |url-status=live }}</ref> due to its possession of intermediate characteristics between the coiled DNA areas of prokaryotic bacteria and the well-defined eukaryotic nucleus. This group, however, does contain typically eukaryotic [[organelles]], such as Golgi bodies, mitochondria, and chloroplasts.<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Steidinger KA, Jangen K |chapter=Dinoflagellates |veditors=Tomas CR |year=1997 |title=Identifying Marine Phytoplankton |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WLABHmo-K8C&pg=PA387 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-0805-3442-8 |pages=387–584 |access-date=2016-03-05 |archive-date=2014-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707091615/http://books.google.com/books?id=8WLABHmo-K8C&pg=PA387 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Динофитовая микроводоросль, выделенная из осадков Амурского залива в 2020 году.jpg|thumb|Dinophytic microalga isolated from sediments of [[Amur Bay]]]]
Jakob Schiller (1931–1937) provided a description of all the species, both marine and freshwater, known at that time.<ref>Schiller, J., 1931–1937: Dinoflagellatae (Peridinineae) in monographischer Behandlung. In: RABENHORST, L. (ed.), Kryptogamen-Flora von Deutschland, Österreichs und der Schweiz. Akad. Verlag., Leipzig. Vol. 10 (3): Teil 1 (1–3) (1931–1933): Teil 2 (1–4)(1935–1937).</ref> Later, Alain Sournia (1973, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1993) listed the new taxonomic entries published after Schiller (1931–1937).<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sournia A |title=Catalogue des espèces et taxons infraspécifiques de dinoflagellés marins actuels publiés depuis la révision de J. Schiller. I. Dinoflagellés libres |journal=Beih. Nova Hedwigia |volume=48 |pages=1–92 |year=1973 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sournia A |title=Catalogue des espèces et taxons infraspécifiques de dinoflagellésmarins actuels publiés depuis la révision de J. Schiller. III (Complément) |journal=Rev. Algol. |volume=13 |pages=3–40 +erratum 13, [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/281442#page/4/mode/1up 186] |year=1978 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/281428#page/4/mode/2up |issn=0035-0702}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sournia A |title=Catalogue des espèces et taxons infraspécifiques de dinoflagellésmarins actuels publiés depuis la révision de J. Schiller. IV. (Complément) |journal=Arch. Protistenkd. |volume=126 |issue= 2|pages=151–168 |year=1982 |doi=10.1016/S0003-9365(82)80046-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sournia A |title=Catalogue des espèces et taxons infraspécifiques de dinoflagellésmarins actuels publiés depuis la révision de J. Schiller. V. (Complément) |journal=Acta Protozool. |volume=29 |pages=321–346 |year=1990 |issn=0065-1583}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sournia A |title=Catalogue des espèces et taxons infraspécifiques de dinoflagellésmarins actuels publiés depuis la révision de J. Schiller. VI. (Complément) |journal=Cryptog. Algol. |volume=14 |pages=133–144 |year=1993 |issue=2–3 |doi=10.5962/p.309374 |bibcode=1993CrypA..14..133S |issn=0181-1568 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/309374 }}</ref> Sournia (1986) gave descriptions and illustrations of the marine genera of dinoflagellates, excluding information at the species level.<ref>SOURNIA, A., 1986: Atlas du Phytoplancton Marin. Vol. I: Introduction, Cyanophycées,Dictyochophycées, Dinophycées et Raphidophycées. Editions du CNRS, Paris.</ref> The latest index is written by Gómez.<ref name="Gómez12"/>

===Identification===
English-language taxonomic monographs covering large numbers of species are published for the Gulf of Mexico,<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Steidinger KA, Williams J |title=Dinoflagellates |publisher=Marine Research Laboratory |location=Florida |year=1970 |series=Memoirs of the Hourglass Cruises |oclc=6206528 |volume=2 }}</ref> the Indian Ocean,<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Taylor FJ, Hart-Jones B |title=Dinoflagellates from the International Indian Ocean Expedition: A Report on Material Collected by the R.V. "Anton Bruun" 1963–1964 |publisher=E. Schweizerbart |series=Biblioteca Botanica |year=1976 |isbn=978-3-5104-8003-6 |volume=132 |oclc=3026853 }}</ref> the British Isles,<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Dodge JD |date=1982 |title=Marine Dinoflagellates of the British Isles |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |isbn=9780112411963 |oclc=681855348 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/9407842.html}}</ref> the Mediterranean<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gómez F |title=Checklist of Mediterranean free-living dinoflagellates |journal=Botanica Marina |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=215–242 |date=April 2003 |doi=10.1515/BOT.2003.021 |bibcode=2003BoMar..46...21G |s2cid=84744638 }}</ref> and the North Sea.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Hoppenrath M, Elbrächter M, Drebes G |title=Marine phytoplankton: selected microphytoplankton species from the North Sea around Helgoland and Sylt |publisher=E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Nägele und Obermiller) |location=Stuttgart |year=2009 |isbn=978-3-5106-1392-2 }}</ref>

The main source for identification of freshwater dinoflagellates is the ''Süsswasser Flora''.<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Popovský J, Pfiester LA |title=Dinophyceae (Dinoflagellida) |publisher=Fischer |series=Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa |volume=6 |year=1990 |isbn=978-3-3340-0247-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXIVAQAAIAA }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[Calcofluor-white]] can be used to stain thecal plates in armoured dinoflagellates.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Fritz L, Triemer R |title=A rapid simple technique utilizing calcofluor white M2R for the visualization of dinoflagellate thecal plates |journal=J. Phycol. |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=662–664 |date=December 1985 |doi=10.1111/j.0022-3646.1985.00662.x |bibcode=1985JPcgy..21..662F |s2cid=85004940 }}</ref>