The Sparkle of the Sea: Noctiluca scintillans

 Welcome to our website on Noctiluca scintillans. We have enjoyed researching this organism and found it very interesting; we hope you enjoy learning about it and other organisms from Multiple Organisms as much as we did!

   Noctiluca scintillans is commonly known as the Sea Sparkle. Its beautiful bioluminescence makes it quite popular for a dinoflagellate. For more information on Noctiluca scintillans bioluminescence visit the Adaptation section. Noctiluca scintillans is unlike most dinoflagellates because it is unarmored (Fukuda and Endoh 2006). You can learn more about the taxonomy of N. scintillans in the Classification section. Noctiluca scintillans are also well known for being a major cause of red tides (Turkoglu 2013). Red tides and their affect on other marine organisms are talked about in more detail in the Habitat section and in the Interactions section. N. scintillans are able to reproduce sexually or assexually (Fukuda and Endoh 2006). To learn more about this and the advantages this characteristic gives Noctiluca scintillans, vist the Reproduction section.  If you are still curious about N. scintillans, you can check out some Interesting Facts. You can also check out the Gallery section to see some original artwork inspired by Nociluca scintillans. If you have any questions, you can find our contact information in the Contact Us section. Please feel free to contact us; we would love to hear questions and feedback. Enjoy our website!

   This is a part of the Multiple Organisms Project at University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. The theme for BIO 203 webpages for our lab section is bioluminescent organsims. There are many bioluminescent organisms, and there already is a Multiple Organisms webpage for the biolumiscent  Photeros annecohenae. Dr. Gretchen Gerrish showed her BIO 203 lab sections this webpage in order to show her students what webpages look like, but she also showed us this organsism because she is passionate about researching bioluminescent ostracods.

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Now that you understand the general characteristics, the webpage for Classification will be more specific. You can click Homepage to refresh this page. You can also check out other organisms at Multiple Organisms.