Eleuteroschisis is asexual reproduction in
dinoflagellate
The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...
s in which the parent organism completely sheds its
theca
In biology, a theca (plural thecae) is a sheath or a covering.
Botany
In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a commo ...
(i.e. undergoes
ecdysis
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticle in many invertebrates of the clade Ecdysozoa. Since the cuticle of these animals typically forms a largely inelastic exoskeleton, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The remna ...
) either before or immediately following cell division. Neither daughter cell inherits part of the parent theca.
[FENSOME R.A., TAYLOR F.J.R., NORRIS G., SARJEANT W.A.S., WHARTON D.I. & WILLIAMS G.L. 1993. A classification of living and fossil dinoflagellates. American Museum of Natural History, Micropaleontology, Special Publication 7: 1-351.]
In terms of asexual division of motile cells, desmoschisis is generally the case in gonyaulacaleans whereas eleutheroschisis is generally the case in peridinialeans.
References
Dinoflagellate biology
Asexual reproduction
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