| Welcome to Bio*Pedia! Bio*Pedia is a repository of descriptions of organisms and a partner of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). Descriptions added to Bio*Pedia will be harvested at regular intervals, and will appear on EOL species pages.1 Want to contribute a text description for an EOL species page now? Here are a few easy steps to get started: - Please register with Bio*Pedia or login if you are already registered (Bio*Pedia has a separate registration system from EOL).
- If you are not registered yet, please fill in all fields in the registration
form. You will receive an e-mail with a registration confirmation link shortly. After you click this link, you can begin contributing to Bio*Pedia and EOL.
- Type the scientific name of the species that you wish to add a description to (without author and year) into the search box, select and jump to the species name, and click on the "Add description" link in the upper left corner of the page. Type your description into the lower (yellow) box, choose the appropriate license, click "Save description", and your description will immediately appear in Bio*Pedia, which means that it is on the way to EOL!1
1Please note that your description will not appear immediately on EOL Species Pages. If submitted descriptions are deemed inappropriate or inaccurate, they may not be included in EOL.
| Dinoflagellata |
|
Description of Dinoflagellata:
Dinoflagellates include flagellates with and without plastids or perhaps with symbionts. Mostly with two flagella, but a few multiflagellated or aflagellated forms also exist. Flagella insert on the ventral face of the cell in most species, and have a paraxial rod associated with the axonemes. One flagellum, termed longitudinal, is directed posteriorly along the sulcus, a longitudinal groove in the body. The second flagellum is directed circumferentially around the cell and lies within a groove termed the cingulum or girdle and has a spiral beat pattern. The position and arrangement of the sulcus and cingulum, together with cell shape, provide the basic taxonomic criteria for many dinoflagellates. Most dinoflagellates have a very distinctive haploid nucleus (dinokaryon) containing large chromosomes which are permanently condensed. Mitosis takes place within the nuclear envelope with the aid of an extra-nuclear spindle. The alveoli have been referred to as amphiesma, and may or may not include organic plates. Species with thick plates are referred to as 'armoured'. The patterns of dinoflagellate plates, known as tabulation, can be useful in identification at various levels. Sexual reproduction has been described in a number of dinoflagellates. About half of the dinoflagellates have chloroplasts. Includes a variety of taxa associated with producing toxins, includes also symbionts of coral reefs.
|
|
|
Classification by 
Cellular life [2]
Eukaryota [1]
Alveolates [1]
 Apicomplexa [1]
Chromerida [1]
Ciliophora [3]
Dinoflagellata [1]
 Dinoflagellate
Dinoflagellates
 Dinokaryotes
Dinoflagellates unassigned to higher taxa
Dinokaryota [1]
Syndiniales [1]
Ellobiopsids [1]
|
|
|
