title: The use of a mucus trap by Dinophysis acuta for the capture of Mesodinium rubrum prey under culture conditions.
abstract: A capture mechanism observed in a culture of the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta when preying on the ciliate Mesodinium rubrum (also sometimes referred to as Myrionecta rubra) is described. The dinoflagellate released cohesive clumps of mucilage into the culture media. When M. rubrum cells came into contact with this mucilage, they were immediately immobilized, but remained alive for a short period of time. Observations of D. acuta cells 'visiting and probing' trapped M. rubrum cells were made and at a critical point D. acuta cells removed individual M. rubrum cells from the mucus to swim away with them. The removal of M. rubrum from the mucus coincided with the cells losing all their cilia and becoming swollen, presumably signifying the death of the cell. These changes may enable the D. acuta peduncle to penetrate the ciliate cell cortex. It is hypothesized that toxins produced by D. acuta play a role in the immobilization process within the mucilage trap.
authors.affiliation: Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax Street East, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7042, New Zealand. Electronic address: gemma.gimenez@fundacio.urv.cat.
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giménez Papiol
authors.affiliation: Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax Street East, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7042, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Beuzenberg
authors.affiliation: Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax Street East, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7042, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Andrew I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Selwood
authors.affiliation: Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax Street East, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7042, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Lincoln
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.affiliation: Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax Street East, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7042, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Packer
mesh_terms: D016798:Ciliophora / Q000502:physiology*; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000502:physiology*; D008387:Marine Toxins / Q000378:metabolism; D009093:Mucus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D008387:Marine Toxins
keywords: Dinophysis acuta; Mesodinium rubrum; Mixotrophy; Mucus trap; Myrionecta rubra; Pectenotoxin