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The most important groups of phytoplankton include the diatoms and dinoflagellates. Diatoms are especially important in oceans, where according to some estimates they contribute up to 45% of the total ocean's primary production. [22] Diatoms are usually microscopic, although some species can reach up to 2 millimetres in length.
Marine algae can be divided into six groups: green, red and brown algae, euglenophytes, dinoflagellates and diatoms. Dinoflagellates and diatoms are important components of marine algae and have their own sections below. Euglenophytes are a phylum of unicellular flagellates with only a few marine members. Not all algae are microscopic.
In terms of number of species, dinoflagellates are one of the largest groups of marine eukaryotes, although substantially smaller than diatoms. [8] Some species are endosymbionts of marine animals and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs .
Marine algae can be divided into six groups: green, red and brown algae, euglenophytes, dinoflagellates and diatoms. Dinoflagellates and diatoms are important components of marine algae and have their own sections below. Euglenophytes are a phylum of unicellular flagellates with only a few marine members. Not all algae are microscopic.
Mixotrophic dinoflagellates have the ability to thrive in changing ocean environments, resulting in shifts in red tide phenomenon and paralytic shellfish poisoning. [6] It is unknown as to how many species of dinoflagellates have mixotrophic capabilities, as this is a relatively new feeding-mechanism discovery.
Symbiodinium is a genus of dinoflagellates that encompasses the largest and most prevalent group of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates known and have photosymbiotic relationships with many species. These unicellular microalgae commonly reside in the endoderm of tropical cnidarians such as corals , sea anemones , and jellyfish , where the products of ...
• Red = diatoms (big phytoplankton, which need silica) • Yellow = flagellates (other big phytoplankton) • Green = prochlorococcus (small phytoplankton that cannot use nitrate) • Cyan = synechococcus (other small phytoplankton) Opacity indicates concentration of the carbon biomass.
Diatoms are classified as eukaryotes, organisms with a nuclear envelope-bound cell nucleus, that separates them from the prokaryotes archaea and bacteria. Diatoms are a type of plankton called phytoplankton, the most common of the plankton types. Diatoms also grow attached to benthic substrates, floating debris, and on macrophytes.