Recording High Resolution 3D Lagrangian Motions In Marine Dinoflagellates using Digital Holographic Microscopic Cinematography

Detailed data on swimming behavior and locomotion for dense population of dinoflagellates constitutes a key component to understanding cell migration, cell-cell interactions and predator-prey dynamics, all of which affect algae bloom dynamics. Due to the multi-dimensional nature of flagellated cell motions, spatial-temporal Lagrangian measurements of multiple cells in high concentration are very limited. Here we present detailed data on 3D Lagrangian motions for three marine dinoflagellates: \textit{Oxyrrhis marina}, \textit{Karlodinium veneficum}, and \textit{Pfiesteria piscicida}, using digital holographic microscopic cinematography. The measurements are performed in a 5$\times $5$\times $25mm cuvette with cell densities varying from 50,000 $\sim $ 90,000 cells/ml. Approximately 200-500 cells are tracked simultaneously for 12s at 60fps in a sample volume of 1$\times $1$\times $5 mm at a spatial resolution of 0.4$\times $0.4$\times $2 $\mu $m. We fully resolve the longitudinal flagella ($\sim $200nm) along with the Lagrangian trajectory of each organism. Species dependent swimming behavior are identified and categorized quantitatively by velocities, radii of curvature, and rotations of pitch. Statistics on locomotion, temporal {\&} spatial scales, and diffusion rate show substantial differences between species. The scaling between turning radius and cell dimension can be explained by a distributed stokeslet model for a self-propelled body.