Warnowia Lindemann, 1928

Lectotype species: Warnowia fusus (Schütt) Lindemann

Original publication: Lindemann, E. (1928). Abteilung Peridineae (Dinoflagellatae). In: Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien nebst ihren Gattungen und wichtgeren Arten inbesodere den Nutzpflanzen unter Mirwirkung zahlreichter hervorrangender Fachgelehrten begründet vom A. Engler und K. Prantl. Zweite Stark. (Engler, A. Eds), pp. [3]-104. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engleman.

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Type designated in: Kofoid, C.A. & Swezy, O. (1921). The free-living unarmored Dinoflagellata. Memoirs of the University of California 5: i-viii, 1-562.

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Description: Unicellular, small to large (30-150 µm) long biflagellated, heterodynamic cells with body torsion. Therefore, the cingulum makes more than one loop, up to three. Consequently, the sulcus is not a straight furrow but is twisted, encircling the body in some species more than 2 times. In addition, it may extend to the apex, making up to two apical loops. The cingulum and sulcus terminate near the posterior pole, sometimes extending on a more or less flexible protuberance or tentacle. The cells are characterized by a conspicuous ocelloid, composed by a lens, a retinoid and a pigment cup. This organelle is derived from chloroplasts and in some species chlorophyll can be detected by epifluorescence microscopy in the pigment cup. During binary cell division, the ocelloid is reorganized, the lens is fragmented. These stages have been regarded earlier as separate taxa of different subgenera. Therefore the taxonomy of the species and the separation to other described genera is difficult. Thus, Greuet (1973) regard the genus Protopsis Kofoid and Swezy as not distinct from Warnowia, in addition, Sournia (1986) regards also the genus Proterythropsis Kofoid and Swezy as congeneric with Warnowia. Trichocysts are absent, separating the species of Warnowia from those of the similar organized species of the genus Nematodinium. Nucleus of the dinokaryon type, chloroplasts absent or present, some species mixotrophic. Cells may be enclosed in mucoid temporary cysts but resting cysts and sexual reproduction so far not reported. Habitat: Marine plankton from tropical to arctic waters, one species in the sea ice of polar waters.

Information contributed by: M. Elbrächter. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2017-05-23 by M.D. Guiry.

Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Kawai, H. & Nakayama, T. (2015). Introduction (Heterokontobionta p.p.), Cryptophyta, Dinophyta, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta (except Coscinodiscophyceae, Mediophyceae, Fragilariophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Phaeophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae), Chlorarachniophyta, Euglenophyta. In: Syllabus of plant families. Adolf Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. Ed. 13. Phototrophic eukaryotic Algae. Glaucocystophyta, Cryptophyta, Dinophyta/Dinozoa, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta/Ochrophyta, Chlorarachnniophyta/Cercozoa, Chlorophyta, Streptophyta p.p. (Frey, W. Eds), pp. 11-64, 103-139. Stuttgart: Borntraeger Science Publishers.

Comments: Dodge (1982: 116) notes recent work by Greuet (1972) has suggested that some organisms which have been designated species of Protopsis may in fact be stages in the life-cycle of Warnowia

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Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in CD format. These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above. The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.

Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.

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Citing AlgaeBase
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M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 23 May 2017. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 28 March 2024

 
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