Boundary Element Analysis and Three-Dimensional Observation of Propulsive Force and Torque of a Dinoflagellate Symbiodinium

Abstract

Swimming motion of single celled dinoflagellates, Symbiodinium sp, was calculated by using the boundary element method, In the calculation, the propagating helical wave of the transverse flagellum with a membrane is considered. For the thrust rate, the numerical result well agrees with the observation. In our model, the cell body is assumed to rotate to the opposite direction of the wave propagation to balance the total torque. The cell rotation was observed from two directions to compare with the above obtained numerical result. The rotational direction is opposite to that in the prediction.