Vulcanodinium rugosum is a species of dinoflagellate first described in 2011 based on samples collected from the French coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
[1][2] It is thecate and its specific epithet is a reference to the striated appearance of its surface.
[2] Studies of the species in culture suggest it has at least two stages in its life cycle, one motile, thecate, and likely planktonic, and one nonmotile, athecate, and likely epibenthic.
[4][5] V. rugosum is notable as the source organism for a family of marine macrocyclic neurotoxins known as pinnatoxins, first identified in association with molluscs of the genus Pinna.
[5] Production of toxin, and the distribution of pinnatoxin types, appears to depend on both environmental conditions and strain.