Structure of the flagellar apparatus in Heterocapsa pygmaea (Pyrrophyta)

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Abstract
The three-dimensional structure of the flagellar apparatus has been determined in the small dinoflagellate Heterocapsa pygmaea Loeblich, Schmidt & Sherley. Some peculiar features of the flagellar apparatus include the displacement of the basal bodies toward the cell's right, the presence of a longitudinal microtubular root that extends to the cell's left-posterior, a small fibrous connective that links the transverse basal body with a collared pit of the anterior pusule, a layered connective that links the proximal end of each basal body, and a transverse striated fibrous root that extends from the transverse basal body to the cell's left. Two striated collars are also present as well as a striated fibrous connective between the microtubular root and the striated fibrous root. The peculiar displacement of the basal bodies to one another and to the cell is discussed as are similarities and variations in the flagellar apparatus of the few other described dinoflagellates. A diagrammatic reconstruction is included.