Pyrocystis fusiformis

Super Group: 
Alveolata
Phylum: 
Dinophyta
Class: 
Dinophyceae
Order: 
Pyrocystales
Family: 
Pyrocystaceae
Genus: 
Pyrocystis
Species: 
fusiformis
Authority: 
C.W.Thomson, 1876
Synonym(s): 
Dissodinium fusiforme (Wyville-Thomson ex Murray) Matzenauer
Murracystis fusiformis (C.W.Thomson) Haeckel, 1890
Dissodinium fusiformis (J.Murray) Matzenauer, 1933

Diagnosis

Cells are fusiform shaped, elongated with tapered ends, and have an average length and width of 970 x 163 µm with the equivalent spherical diameter being 374 µm3. P. fusiformis has a cell wall but lacks a another sheathing  of rigid polysaccharide plates that make up the cytoskeleton and are called  thecae.

Type species

The type species (lectotype) of the genus Pyrocystis is Pyrocystis pseudonoctiluca Wyville-Thompson.

Observation site(s)