Description of Heterocapsa

Small biconical cell with median cingulum; thecal plates thin and unornamented; chloroplasts present; tends to be neritic, found in saline lagoons and sea lochs. The common small dinoflagellate formerly known as Katodinium rotundatum has recently been transferred to this genus. (Refs. Morrill & Loeblich III 1981; Pomroy 1989; Hansen 1995).