The compound chloroplast, in which all pyrenoids are concentrated centrally in the cell, was originally thought to be a rare type of chloroplast in dinoflagellates. However, in recent years this type of chloroplast has been detected in an increasing number of species, from Alexandrium catenella (Whedon & Kofoid) Balech (Hansen & Moestrup 1998), over Tovellia sanguinea Moestrup, G. Hansen, Daugbjerg, Flaim & d’Andrea (Moestrup et al. 2006), to Dinophysis acuminata Claparède & Lachmann (Garcia-Cuetos et al. 2010), representing three different orders of dinoflagellates.