| Blastodinium is a genus of dinoflagellates that live as parasites in the gut of marine, planktonic copepods in theWorld’s oceans and coastal waters. The taxonomy, phylogeny, and physiology of the genus have only been explored to a limited degree and, based on recent investigations, we hypothesize that the morphological and genetic diversity within this genus may be considerably larger than presently recognized. To address these issues, we obtained 18S rDNA and ITS gene sequences for Blastodinium specimens of different geographical origins, including representatives of the type species. This genetic information was in some cases complemented with new morphological, ultrastructural, physiological, and ecological data. Because most current knowledge about... |
