Noctiluca scintillans

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Noctiluca scintillans
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota Phylum: Dinoflagellata Genus: Noctiluca Species: N.scintillans

Description and Significance

Noctiluca scintillans, also known as sea sparkles, are single-celled dinoflagellates that exhibit bioluminescence. They are free-living marine plankton, which range between 200-2000 micrometers in diameter. They are mostly found in estuaries and other coastal regions and can be found in both warm and cold waters. N. Scintillans are heterotrophic and non-photosynthetic, meaning they receive their carbon from organic compounds and receive their energy through the ingestion of organic substances. They don’t have any chloroplasts so, their cytoplasm is relatively clear. Noctiluca scintillans are non-motile, even though they possess a flagellum, and only move vertically by changing their buoyancy using gas vacuoles. N. Scintillans can reproduce asexually, by binary fission, and sexually, using isogametes through a diplontic lifecycle.

Cell Structure and Metabolism

Noctiluca scintillans has a round, balloon-like, body shape and is unarmored, meaning it does not have a protective shell. Since they do not photosynthesize they don’t have chloroplast and thus are fairly clear. The red and green color usually associated with this species in the red and green tides are due to the pigments of the photosynthetic symbionts within the vacuoles of N. scintillans and not in the species itself. N. scintillans have a ventral groove that runs through their bodies which contains the flagellum, a tooth and a tentacle.

Noctiluca scintillans is a phagotrophic species, engulfing other marine species, such as diatoms and fish eggs, with the many food vacuoles found throughout their bodies. They also contain gas vacuoles which allow them to control their buoyancy.