• Gonyaulax polyedra: Stein F. (1883)

Solitary, thecate, of medium dimensions. The cells are pentagonal or polyhedral. On the cell surface the plates are very thick and well defined. The deep and almost equatorial cingulum descends by 1-2 times its width and divides the cell into two parts: the epitheca, with the flattened or slightly pointed apex in a more most or less peripheral position and the apical pore plate (Po) which contains a raised internal elliptical crest, and the hypotheca, with a truncated antapex. The deep sulcus slightly invades the epitheca and broadens posteriorly.

Marine, widely distributed in warm, temperate and subtropical waters of coastal areas.

Distribution: as Gonyaulax polyedra; Ireland: Cork (Pybus, Mc Grath, O'Hea & Dunne, 1986); Europe: Great Britain (Parke & Dixon, 1976), Ireland (Pybus, Mc Grath, O'Hea & Dunne, 1986), Romania (Caraus, 2002); Atlantic Islands: Canary Islands (Gil-Rodríguez et al., 2003).

As Lingulodinium polyedrum; Europe: Croatia (Vilicic et al., 2009), Spain (Figueroa & Bravo, 2005), Sweden (Figueroa & Bravo, 2005); Africa: Mauritania (Zonneveld et al., 2010).

The algae of Romania., Studii si Cercetari, Universitatea Bacau, Biologie 7, Caraus I., 2002, 1-694

Check-list of British marine algae - third revision., Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 56, Parke M., Dixon P.S., 1976, 527-594.

Seasonal variability of the organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst production in the coastal upwelling region off Cape Blanc (Mauritania): a five-year survey., Journal of Phycology 46(1):, Zonneveld K.A.F., Susek E., Fischer G., 2010, 202-215

Some dinoflagellate blooms in the Galway Bay area, 1984 and 1985., Irish Naturalists' Journal 22:, Pybus C., Mc Grath D., O'Hea B., Dunne T., 1986, 59-61

Some revisions of the family Gonyaulacaceae (Dinophyceae) based on a scanning electron microscope study., Botanica marina 32:, Dodge J.D., 1989, 275-298

Sexual reproduction and two different encystment strategies of Lingulodinium polyedrum (Dinophyceae) in culture., Journal of Phycology 41:, Figueroa R.I., Bravo I., 2005, 370-379

Composition and annual cycle of phytoplankton assemblages in the northeastern Adriatic Sea., Botanica Marina 52(4), Vilicic, Djakovac, Buric, Z. & Bosak, 2009, 291-305.

Proctoctista. In: Lista de especies marinas de Canarias (algas, hongos, plantas y animales). (Moro, L., Martín, J.L., Garrido, M.J. & Izquierdo, I. Eds), Las Palmas: Consejería de Política Territorial y Medio Ambiente del Gobierno de Canarias., Gil-Rodríguez M.C., Haroun R., Ojeda Rodríguez A., Berecibar Zugasti E., Domínguez Santana P., Herrera Morán B., 2003, 5 - 30