Oodinium fritillariae

Super Group: 
Alveolata
Phylum: 
Dinophyta
Class: 
Dinophyceae
Family: 
Oodiniaceae
Genus: 
Oodinium
Species: 
fritillariae
Authority: 
Chatton 1912

Diagnosis

Diagnosis_Genus: Oodinium Chatton 1912. External parasite of tunicates, chaetognaths and possibly polychaetes. The trophont is sac-like and is attached to the host by a stout peduncle with a very large, flat attachment surface closely adhering to but not penetrating into the epithelial cells of the hosts. The cell membrane of the attachment surface has numerous thin and long invaginations serving for increased absorption of the nutrients by osmotrophy. There are no chloroplasts, the trophont's theca has plates filling its alveoli and constituting together the dinoflagellate armour of the cell. There are no starch grains. The nucleus contains stout coiled chromosomes only in young individuals. The dinospore is a gymnospore. (Lom 1981).
Diagnosis_Species: Oodinium fritillariae Chatton 1912. Ectoparasite of Fritillaria pellucida.  Generally only one trophont per host, located on the stomacal region. Youngest trophont observed was piriform, 15 x 10 µm. The fixative apparatus consists in a short filament that penetrates the host tegument, and then separates in ramified rhizoidal filaments. Most of these rhizoids are located first aroung the intestine. However, these rhizoids retract and the fixative apparatus later appears similar to a disc, that spread over the host surface (until 60 µm of diameter). Mature trophonts are ovoid (130 x 80 µm) to spherical (80-115 µm). Sporogenesis not observed.
Body_trophont_length: 115-130 µm
Body_trophont_wide: 80 µm
Pigment: No

Etymology

fritillariae refers to the host (Fritillaria pellucida).

Type species

The type species for the genus is Oodinium poucheti. 

Type illustration / Type locality / Type specimen

Type Host: Fritillaria pellucida
Type locality: Villefranche-sur-Mer

Ecology

Substrate: epizoic
Sociability_trophont: solitary
Salinity: marine

Life cycle

Generation: <1 month

Feeding behaviour

Parasitism
Osmotrophy

Observation site(s)

Observation site(s)

HOSTS

Displaying 1 - 4 of 4
Association with... Region origin Name of site In reference...
Fritillaria formica Villefranche-sur-mer
Chatton E (1912) Diagnoses préliminaires de péridiniens parasites nouveaux. Bull. Soc. Zool. de France XXXVII:85-93.
Fritillaria pellucida Banyuls-sur-mer
Chatton E (1912) Diagnoses préliminaires de péridiniens parasites nouveaux. Bull. Soc. Zool. de France XXXVII:85-93.
Fritillaria pellucida Villefranche-sur-mer
Chatton E (1912) Diagnoses préliminaires de péridiniens parasites nouveaux. Bull. Soc. Zool. de France XXXVII:85-93.
Fritillaria megachile Villefranche-sur-mer
Chatton E (1912) Diagnoses préliminaires de péridiniens parasites nouveaux. Bull. Soc. Zool. de France XXXVII:85-93.

SYMBIONTS

Displaying 1 - 1 of 1
Association with... Region origin Name of site In reference...
Amoebophrya grassei