The lifecycle of red tide forming dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans (Ehrenberg) McCartney was investigated from the estuarine waters of Cochin and also from their clonal cultures. Reproductive divisions including asexual binary fission and sexual isogamete formation were studied. Certain vegetative cells were observed to undergo binary fission. Gametocyte mother cells underwent meiosis followed by several synchronous mitotic divisions which resulted in the production of 256–1024 mature spindle-shaped haploid isogametes attached on the surface of the gametocyte mother cell body. After several hours, gametes were observed to fuse and form diploid zygotes. The zygote underwent differentiation from spindle to spherical, with a reduction in the flagellar number and develops into a minuscule trophont. These trophonts later attained maturity as the cell size increased. The life cycle of Noctiluca scintillans thus appear to be a diplontic type. Hence, the study illustrates different life cycle stages of N. scintillans based on both in-situ and clonal culture studies. In-situ life cycle study is first of its kind in the reproductive biology of the species.

赤潮形成夜鞭藻夜光藻的赤潮生命周期（埃伦伯格）麦卡特尼是从科钦河口的水域及其克隆培养物中进行调查的。研究了生殖分裂，包括无性二元裂变和性配子的形成。观察到某些营养细胞经历了二元裂变。配子母细胞经历减数分裂，随后发生几个同步的有丝分裂，导致配子母细胞体表面附着了256–1024个成熟的纺锤状单倍体异配子。几个小时后，观察到配子融合并形成二倍体合子。合子经历了从纺锤体到球形的分化，鞭毛数量减少，并发展为细小节体。随着细胞大小的增加，这些滋养动物后来达到了成熟。的生命周期夜光闪烁藻因此看来是双斜型的。因此，该研究基于原位和克隆培养研究说明了闪烁藻的不同生命周期阶段。原位生命周期研究是该物种生殖生物学的开创性研究。