1. Dinoflagellates
By Alex Yoo

2. Key Features
Use a pair of flagella in order to move. They spin as they swim. The flagella are on grooves.
Most are photosynthetic and unicellular but some live in colonies. They have a cellulose cell wall that looks like armor.
During cell division, the nuclear envelope stays intact and the microtubules pass through the nucleus to keep it the nucleus oriented the right way. Then it does binary fission-like division

3. Life Cycle Motile haploid stages
Population growth usually through asexual reproduction
In the diagram, brown = motile, whitish color = sessile

4. Some Interesting Facts
Pfiesteria, a species of dinoflagellates, causes red tides, algal blooms that cause fish to die and harm humans
Some species make their own light through bioluminescence
The first dinoflagellate discovered was called Pyrrhophyta or “fire algae” because of its bioluminescence

5. More Interesting Facts
Zooxanthellae help build coral reefs by providing nutrients to its symbiont coral
Besides diatoms, dinoflagellates are the largest group of eukaryotic algae

6. Significance to Humans
Red tides harm not only fish, but also humans
Half of all the dinoflagellates are photosynthetic and provide oxygen

7. Examples of Dinoflagellates
Ordered from left to right:
Pfiesteria
Ceratium tripos
Zooxanthellae
Togula britannica