Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a lateral girdle view (diplopsaloid) of a Protoperidinium sp. dinoflagellate. Protoperidinum species are thecate
Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a lateral girdle view (diplopsaloid) of a Protoperidinium sp. dinoflagellate. Protoperidinum species are thecate (armoured) marine planktonic heterotrophic (non-photosynthetic) dinoflagellates. The armoured theca (surrounding the cell; made of cellulose) is well developed. Unlike photosynthetic dinoflagellates (true algae), heterotrophic dinoflagellates (protists; protozoa) feed directly on diatoms, other dinoflagellates, prasinophytes and ciliates. Protoperidinium is a pallium feeder that engulfs its prey with a pseudopod (pallium). Prey cells are captured individually using a thin filament and are then surrounded by a membrane and digested completely outside the theca. Specimen from an algal bloom in the Persian Gulf off Kuwait. Magnification: x2,500 when shortest axis printed at 25 millimetres.
Size: 2793px × 3483px
Photo credit: © DENNIS KUNKEL MICROSCOPY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, 29637, alga, algae, black, diatom, diatoms, dinoflagellate, dinoflagellates, diplopsaloid, gulf, kuwait, marine, monochrome, peridiniales, persian, phytoplankton, plankton, prorocentrum, protoperidiniaceae, protoperidinium, salt, saltwater, scott, sea, seawater, sem, water, white
