Polykrikos
Polykrikos (from Greek “poly” - many, and “krikos” – ring or circle) is one of the genera of family Polykrikaceae that includes athecate pseudocolony-forming dinoflagellates. Polykrikos are characterized by a sophisticated ballistic apparatus, named the nematocyst-taeniocyst complex, which allows species to prey on a variety of organisms. Polykrikos have been found to regulate algal blooms as they feed on toxic dinoflagellates. However, there is also some data available on Polykrikos being toxic to fish.
| Polykrikos | |
|---|---|
| A light micrograph of Polykrikos kofoidii showing an extruded nematocyst. Scale bar = 10µm. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Myzozoa |
| Superclass: | Dinoflagellata |
| Class: | Dinophyceae |
| Order: | Gymnodiniales |
| Family: | Polykrikaceae |
| Genus: | Polykrikos Bütschli, 1873 |
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.