Dinoflagellates - Detailed illustration from nature - Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur

Engraving reproduction of: Dinoflagellates

Original title Peridinea - Geißelhütchen

Poster of Peridinium - Primitive algae of the main class of Algae (Class Mastigophora)

Illustration from the book Kunstformen der Natur, which is a collection of artistic lithographs of natural sciences published by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel between 1899 and 1904.

This naturalistic illustration is part of an overall style inspired by Ernst Haeckel, which greatly influenced the emerging Art Nouveau movement at the beginning of the ^20th century. This work, illustrating the impressive beauty and great diversity of the biological world, was complemented by a certain amount of scientific information, some excerpts of which are reproduced below.

This information is over 120 years old and some of it may be outdated!

Scientific classification:

 Phylum of Protophytes (Protophyta)
Main class of primitive algae
Class of Mastigotes (Mastigota)
Order Dinoflagellates (Peridinea or Dinoflagellata).

Scientific notice (extract) accompanying the poster print of Peridinea - Dinoflagellates :

Peridinians, or peridinians, are primitive unicellular organisms distinguished by the formation of a two-valved envelope, often strangely and diversely. This cell shell is composed of cellulose, similar in many respects to that of diatoms (Taf. +), assembled in plates and equipped with very fine openings. Peridinians are very small (often microscopic), but they live in massive quantities in the plankton, floating on the surface of the sea (some also in fresh water). They move by swimming with the help of two thin flagella, emerging from a horizontal groove in the cell body, between the two valves of the shell (Figs. 1, 4, 6, 7, 8); this is why these organisms were formerly considered infusoria. The longer flagellum oscillates in long waves, in a whip-like manner, and is usually oriented backward during movement. Their cingulate groove is located in the equatorial plane of the cell and oscillates in numerous waves. Inside the cell are, in addition to a central nucleus, numerous yellow, green, or brown colored granules (chromatelles). The two valves of the cell envelope are often of very different shapes and sizes. The upper valve, or apical valve (miral half), is usually smaller than the lower valve, or basal valve (basal half). They often bear spines and wing-like appendages, used both as propulsion organs and as floating devices.

Species present on the Dinoflagellates naturalist board - Peridinium :

• Ceratium tripos
• Ornithocercus magnificus
• Ceratocorys horrida
• Goniodoma acuminatum
• Dinophysis homunculus
• Dinophysis sphaerica
• Ceratium cornutum
• Ceratium macroceros
• Pyrgidium pyriforme
• Peridinium divergens
• Remora historian