File Name: pyro1

The species Pyrodinium Bahamenese in only 1/500 of an inch.

Printed with permission of Joe Scott, Professor of Biology at The College of William and Mary.

Basic organization of "armored dinoflagellates" is that there are top (epicone) and lower (hypocone) components of the cell and each half is separated by the girdle, which contains one (horizontal) flagellum. The wall of each component is composed of cellulosic "plates", which can have a variety of ornamentation, including small pore-like "holes". There usually is a longitudinal groove called the sulcus along which the longitudinal flagellum lies.