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polykrikos

polykrikos

polykrikos

Genus: Polykrikos | Dinoflagellate

Common West Coast species: P. schwartzii

Order: Gymnodiniales

Family: Polykrikaceae

Description: Unarmored. Medium to large pseudocolony of 4 to 16 zooids. Species with >2 zooids usually have one nucleus per 2 zooids. Chloroplasts absent, nematocysts present or absent, food vacuoles often present. Polykrikos often feeds on other dinoflagellates, such as Ceratium and Gonyaulax, and on diatoms.

Cell Size: Length 100-150um

Distribution: temperate to tropical, cosmopolitan

 

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This Phytoplankton Identification page is affiliated with CeNCOOS and HABMAP, and is maintained by the Kudela Lab at the University of California Santa Cruz. Details about site history, funding, and sources of information and images can be found here.