The Noctilucales are an
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
of marine
dinoflagellate
The Dinoflagellates (), also called Dinophytes, are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered protists. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine plankton, but they are also commo ...
s. They differ from most others in that the mature cell is
diploid
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...
and its
nucleus does not show a
dinokaryotic organization. They show
gametic meiosis.
Characteristics
These cells are very large, from 0.2 to 2 millimetres in diameter, and are filled with large buoyant
vacuole
A vacuole () is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in Plant cell, plant and Fungus, fungal Cell (biology), cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water ...
s. Some may contain symbiotic
green alga
The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ( ...
e, but there are no
chloroplast
A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...
s. Instead, they feed on other
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
, and there is usually a special flagellum involved in ingestion.
Noctilucales reproduce mainly by fission, but
sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...
also occurs. Each cell produces numerous gametes, which resemble more typical athecate dinoflagellates and have the dinokaryotic nuclei. Evidence suggests that they diverged from most other dinoflagellates early on, and they are generally placed in their own class.
Taxonomy
* Class Noctiluciphyceae
Fensome et al. 1993 octilucae Haeckel 1866; Noctilucea Haeckel 1866 stat. nov.; Cystoflagellata Haeckel 1873 stat. nov. Butschli 1887ref name="Gómez12">
** Order Noctilucales
Haeckel 1894
*** Family
Noctilucaceae Saville-Kent 1881
**** Genus ''
Noctiluca''
Kofoid 1920 'Mammaria''
Oken 1815 (sic); ''Slabberia">Mammaria.html" ;"title="'Mammaria">'Mammaria''
Oken 1815 (sic); ''Slabberia''
Oken 1815 (sic)]
**** Genus ''Spatulodinium''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1968 ex Loeblich & Loeblich III 1969
*** Family Kofoidiniaceae
Taylor 1976
**** Genus ''Cymbodinium''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1967
**** Genus ''
Pomatodinium''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1966
**** Genus ''
Kofoidinium''
Pavillard 1928
*** Family
Leptodiscaceae Kofoid 1905
**** Genus ''
Abedinium''
Loeblich & Loeblich III 1966 'Leptophyllus''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1964 non Hope 1842">Leptophyllus.html" ;"title="'Leptophyllus">'Leptophyllus''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1964 non Hope 1842**** Genus ''Cachonodinium''
Loeblich III 1980 [''Leptodinium''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1969 non Klement 1960]
**** Genus ''Craspedotella''
Kofoid 1905
**** Genus ''Leptodiscus''
Hertwig 1877 'Pratjetella''
Lohmann 1920; ''Clipeodinium">Pratjetella.html" ;"title="'Pratjetella">'Pratjetella''
Lohmann 1920; ''Clipeodinium''
Pascher 1917]
**** Genus ''Petalodinium''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1969
**** Genus ''Scaphodinium''
Margalef 1963 [''Leptospathium''
Cachon & Cachon-Enjumet 1964]
Examples
The most common species is ''
Noctiluca scintillans'', also called ''N. miliaris''. Blooms of this species are red-orange and can be
bioluminescent
Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...
when disturbed,
[
] as are various other dinoflagellates, and large blooms can sometimes be seen as flickering lights on the ocean, known as the
milky seas effect.
Another example is ''
Spatulodinium pseudonoctiluca''.
[
]
References
Further reading
*
External links
Noctiluca scintillans — Guide to the Marine Zooplankton of south eastern AustraliaTasmanian Aquaculture & Fisheries Institute
*
*
{{Authority control
Dinoflagellate orders
Dinophyceae