Gymnodinium F.Stein, 1878
Lectotype species: Gymnodinium fuscum (Ehrenberg) F.Stein
Original publication: Stein, F. von (1878). Der Organismus der Infusionsthiere nach eigenen forschungen in systematischere Reihenfolge bearbeitet. III. Abtheilung. Die Naturgeschichte der Flagellaten oder Geisselinfusorien. I. Hälfte, Den noch nicht abgeschlossenen allgemeinen Theil nebst erklärung: Der sämmtlichen Abbildungen enthaltend. pp. i-x, 1-154, pls I-XXIV. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann.
Request PDFType designated in: Chatton, É. (1912). Diagnose préliminaires de Péridiniens parasites nouveaux. Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France 37(2): 85-93, 8 figures.
Description: Small-to-large (about 5-200 µm) unicellular athecate flagellates of various shapes; globular to spindle-shaped, or dorsiventrally to laterally compressed. Some species form long-chained colonies, others enclosed in temporary hyaline cysts. Amphiesma smooth to rigid, may be striated or punctuated. Cells with well-developed cingulum and sulcus. Cingulum more or less equatorial, or located more anteriorly or more posteriorly, these species not clearly separated from Amphidinium Claparède and Lachmann or Katodinium Fott, respectively. Cingulum circular or slightly displaced, inclusion in Gyrodinium Kofoid and Swezy sometimes arbitrary. Sulcus running from cingulum to the antapex, sometimes notching it but sometimes fading earlier. Sulcus may extend to the epicone and even encircle the apex. Chloroplasts present or absent. Nutrition phototrophic, phagotrophic, or myzocytotic which may result in acquisition of "kleptochloroplasts". Species with endosymbionts or remnants of chrysophycean-like or cryptophycean chloroplasts known. Some species have a stigma, others have trichocysts. Pusules may be very elaborate. Vegetative reproduction by binary fission; sexual reproduction and production of planozygotes with 2 longitudinal and 2 transverse flagella which later may form hypnozygotes acting as resting cysts. Cosmopolitan, freshwater, brackish and marine plankton, and benthos; some species sand-dwelling, others in snow and ice, also endosymbiotic species. Emend. Hansen & Moestrup (2000: 305).
Information contributed by: M. Elbrächter. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2024-06-13 by M.D. Guiry.
Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.
Gender: This genus name is currently treated as neuter.
Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Kawai, H. & Nakayama, T. (2015). Introduction (Heterokontobionta p.p.), Cryptophyta, Dinophyta, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta (except Coscinodiscophyceae, Mediophyceae, Fragilariophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Phaeophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae), Chlorarachniophyta, Euglenophyta. In: Syllabus of plant families. Adolf Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. Ed. 13. Phototrophic eukaryotic Algae. Glaucocystophyta, Cryptophyta, Dinophyta/Dinozoa, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta/Ochrophyta, Chlorarachnniophyta/Cercozoa, Chlorophyta, Streptophyta p.p. (Frey, W. Eds), pp. 11-64, 103-139. Stuttgart: Borntraeger Science Publishers.
Comments: Bloom-forming species can produce extensive red tides which may cause oxygen deficiency in bottom waters. Blooms of toxic species of economic significance. Some produce very potent toxins, some as aerosols, also harmful to man. Other species produce unusual sterols. Planktonic species may show vertical migration, phototaxis, and swimming speeds may reach 1 m h-1. Chemosensitive species known. Transport of some species apparently in tanks of commercial ships from Japan to Tasmania and Spain may explain the recent occurrence of G. catenatum in these waters.
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Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera,
organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA)
and intended to be published in CD format.
These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above.
The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.
Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.
Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=43632
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 13 June 2024. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 21 November 2024
