A Brief History of Dinoflagellate Feeding Research1

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Abstract
Our understanding of the great diversity and novelty of dinoflagellate feeding ecology (summarized in Fig. 1) is progressing rapidly after a slow, erratic beginning a century ago. This advance has not been based primarily on technical innovations. Rather, basic microscopy of wild material, like that employed a century ago, has continued to yield many important insights. Indeed, several of the most exciting discoveries (including the pallium of thecate heterotrophs and the ingestion of ciliates and dinoflagellates by both naked and thecate dinoflagellates) are actually rediscoveries that have expanded upon reports published sixty to ninety years earlier. The elucidation of feeding strategies among thecate species has advanced particularly rapidly, with the recent addition of over a dozen widespread and important thecate genera to the rank of phagotroph, leading to a significant paradigm shift: the theca can no longer be considered an insurmountable or even a significant barrier to phagotrophy. This research is now developing from a descriptive and anecdotal stage to an experimental and quantitative stage, involving analysis of rates, ecological roles, and survival strategies: however, important new descriptions are still emerging. It has been shown that dinoflagellates, despite having relatively low densities and growth rates compared to ciliates, are ecologically significant. They can even compete with and prey upon microcrustacean grazers. Among many future advances in this field, perhaps the most significant will be an understanding of nano‐sized dinoflagellates, particularly “Gymnodinium” and “Gyrodinium” spp. that have already been shown to play major roles in marine food webs. This development awaits a massive taxonomic overhaul of this diverse, polyphyletic assemblage. In addition, the feeding habits of well characterized thecate taxa still await characterization.