Analysis and modelling of swimming behaviour in Oxyrrhis marina

Oxyrrhis marina is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate that swims in helical paths in a three-dimensional (3D) environment. It is also known to react to various environmental stimuli and resultant changes in its swimming patterns have been widely observed. Understanding this swimming behaviour and providing tools for quantifying swimming-related parameters will aid in interpreting its response to environmental stimuli, including the presence of food items and chemical cues. We review the literature on the analysis of swimming in O. marina. We also outline the related fields of random walks, path analysis and simulation of individual-based movement where relevant to O. marina. We then discuss some of the problems associated with trying to understand 3D helical movement through analysis of two-dimensional (2D) video microscopy data. We emphasize that the current models in the literature cannot accurately simulate helical walks and conclude that O. marina would be a suitable candidate for establishing a standard 3D framework that can be used as a tool to characterize observed movement patterns in the future.