Census of Australian Marine Dinoflagellates

Ceratium fusus
Photo: F. Scott

Preperidinium meunieri
Photo: F. Scott

Ceratium pentagonum
Photo: F. Scott

Dinoflagellates are minute, predominantly unicellular organisms, mostly exhibiting a characteristic ‘whirling’ motion in water. Motile cells possess two flagella, one located in a groove around the circumference of the cell, the other orientated to the cell posterior. Dinoflagellates can be armoured (with a cell wall composed of cellulose plates), or they can lack such protective structures (McMinn & Scott, 2005).

More than 1,500 free-living species are known (Gómez, 2005), and these can be heterotrophic, autotrophic or mixotrophic. While most are marine, free-living and planktonic (Hallegraeff et al., 2010), significant minorities are benthic (Murray, 2010), produce resistant cysts (McMinn et al., 2010), form symbiotic associations with marine sponges and coelenterates, especially corals, or produce toxins that are detrimental to other marine organisms, e.g. shellfish and fish, as well as humans.

The current list includes 537 free-living species and infraspecific taxa known from coastal and oceanic waters around Australia.

Click on the links (below) to view species fact-sheets. These contain original publication details, basionyms, other synonyms relevant to Australia, broad type localities, Australian and global distributions, and literature references for Australian records. The fact-sheets have been compiled mainly from recent sources, including overviews of the planktonic, benthic and cyst-producing dinoflagellates of temperate Australian waters (Hallegraeff et al., 2010; Murray, 2010; McMinn et al., 2010), a series of substantial papers by E.J.F. Wood (1954, 1963a, 1963b), the results of floristic and ecological research in tropical and temperate latitudes, and intensive taxonomic studies, e.g. Hallegraeff & Lucas (1988; Dinophysis), Huisman (1989; Ceratium), Larsen (1994, 1996; Gymnodinium and Gyrodinium), Murray & Patterson (2002; Amphidinium) and de Salas et al. (2008; Kareniaceae).

For publication details, typification and extra-Australian distribution, I have relied heavily on Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase , as well as numerous papers, reports and abstracts. The circumscription, synonymy and generic placement of species, along with higher level classification, has been informed by the foregoing publications as well as a recent global checklist of free-living marine dinoflagellates (Gómez, 2005).

While this aims to be a reasonably comprehensive preliminary list, the accepted names, their systematic placement, synonymy and the geographical distribution of taxa are based solely on the literature and the taxonomic judgements therein.

Notification of errors, omissions and updates will be gratefully received and acknowledged.

Cite as: McCarthy, P.M. (2013), Census of Australian Marine Dinoflagellates. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/Dinoflagellates/index_Dino.html [version 11 July 2013].

Patrick M. McCarthy
Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra
abrs@environment.gov.au
11 July 2013
See also: Census of Australian Marine Diatoms

Dinophysis contracta
Photos: F. Scott

Acknowledgements

I thank Brigitte Kuchlmayr for website design, Christy Geromboux for technical assistance, Catherine Jordan for library support, Fiona Scott for illustrations, and Shauna Murray and Tony Rees for updates.

Abbreviations

N.S.W. – New South Wales; N.T. – Northern Territory; Qld – Queensland; S.A. – South Australia; Tas. – Tasmania; Vic. – Victoria; W.A. – Western Australia

References

GOMEZ, F. (2005), A list of free-living dinoflagellate species in the world’s oceans, Acta Bot. Croat. 64: 129–212.

HALLEGRAEFF, G.M. & LUCAS, I.A.N. (1988), The marine dinoflagellate genus Dinophysis (Dinophyceae): photosynthetic, neritic and non-photosynthetic, oceanic species, Phycologia 27: 25–42.

HALLEGRAEFF, G.M., BOLCH, C.J.S., HUISMAN, J.M. & DE SALAS, M.F. (2010), Planktonic dinoflagellates, Algae of Australia: Phytoplankton of Temperate Coastal Waters 145–212.

HUISMAN, J.M. (1989), The genus Ceratium Schrank (Dinophyceae) in Bass Strait and adjoining waters, southern Australia, Austral. Syst. Bot. 2: 425–454.

LARSEN, J. (1994), Unarmoured dinoflagellates from Australian waters. I. The genus Gymnodinium (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae), Phycologia 33: 24–33.

LARSEN, J. (1996), Unarmoured dinoflagellates from Australian waters. II. Genus Gyrodinium (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae), Phycologia 35: 342–349.

McMINN, A. & SCOTT, F.J. (2005), Dinoflagellates, Antarctic Marine Protists 202–250 .

McMINN, A, BOLCH, C.J.S., DE SALAS, M.F. & HALLEGRAEFF, G.M. (2010), Recent dinoflagellate cysts, Algae of Australia: Phytoplankton of Temperate Coastal Waters 260–292.

MURRAY, S. (2010), Benthic dinoflagellates, Algae of Australia: Phytoplankton of Temperate Coastal Waters 213–259.

MURRAY, S. & PATTERSON, D.J. (2002), The benthic dinoflagellate genus Amphidinium in south-eastern Australian waters, including 3 new species, Eur. J. Phycol. 37: 279–298.

SALAS, M.F. DE, LAZA-MARTINEZ, A. & HALLEGRAEFF, G.M. (2008), Five new species of Karlodinium and one new Takayama (Kareniaceae, Dinophyceae) from open Southern Ocean waters, J. Phycol. 44: 241–257.

Biodiversity

Australian Biological Resources Study

Census of Australian Marine Dinoflagellates

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

References

DINOPHYCEAE

DINOPHYSIALES

AMPHISOLENIACEAE

CITHARISTACEAE

DINOPHYSIACEAE

GONYAULACALES

CERATIACEAE

CERATOCORYACEAE

CLADOPYXIDACEAE

GONIODOMATACEAE

GONYAULACACEAE

HETERODINIACEAE

OSTREOPSIDACEAE

PYROPHACACEAE

GONYAULACALES Incertae Sedis

GYMNODINIALES

GYMNODINIACEAE

HEMIDINIACEAE

KARENIACEAE

POLYKRIKACEAE

PTYCHODISCACEAE

WARNOWIACEAE

LOPHODINIALES

LOPHODINIACEAE

NOCTILUCALES

KOFOIDINIACEAE

NOCTILUCACEAE

PROTODINIFERACEAE

OXYRRHINALES

OXYRRHINACEAE

PERIDINIALES

CALCIODINELLACEAE

CENTRODINIACEAE

HETEROCAPSACEAE

OXYTOXACEAE

PERIDINIACEAE

PODOLAMPADACEAE

PROTOPERIDINIACEAE

PERIDINIALES INCERTAE SEDIS

PHYTODINIALES

PHYTODINIACEAE

PROROCENTRALES

PROROCENTRACEAE

PYROCYSTALES

PYROCYSTACEAE

THORACOSPHAERALES

THORACOSPHAERACEAE

SYNONYMS