''Gymnodinium'' is a genus of

dinoflagellate The dinoflagellates ( Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...

s, a type of marine and freshwater

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

. It is one of the few naked dinoflagellates, or species lacking armor known as cellulosic plates. Since 2000, the species which had been considered to be part of ''Gymnodinium'' have been divided into several genera, based on the nature of the apical groove and partial LSU rDNA sequence data. Amphidinium was redefined later. Gymnodinium belong to red dinoflagellates that, in concentration, can cause

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes ...

s. The red tides produced by some Gymnodinium, such as Gymnodinium catenatum, are toxic and pose risks to marine and human life, including paralytic shellfish poisoning.

Species

* ''Amphidinium'' * ''Aureolum'' *''Gymnodinium''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

* ''Gyrodinium'' *'' Akashiwo'' *'' Karenia'' *''

Karlodinium ''Karlodinium'' is a genus of athecate dinoflagellates. They are often toxin producing, and compared to the other members of the Kareniaceae, are fairly small at <8-15 µm diameter.

'' *''Katodinium'' *'' Takayama''

Former species

'' Torodinium'' (with ''Torodinium robustum'' and the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

''Torodinium teredo'') were both formerly ''Gymnodinium teredo'' until 1921.Kofoid, C.A. and Swezy, O. 1921: The free-living unarmored dinoflagellate. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA

Species

Former species

References

Further reading