Question

Photosynthetic protists are
A. diatoms, euglenoids and slime moulds
B. sarcodines, dinoflagellates and diatoms
C. euglenoids, diatoms and dinoflagellates
D. ciliates,zooflagellates and dinoflagellates

Answer 1

Hint: Protists are eukaryotes. They are unicellular. They occur in moist and aquatic environments. Algae, euglena, diatom and paramecium are examples of protists. They are divided into animal-like, plant-like and fungus-like protists.

Complete answer:
Photosynthetic protists are plant-like protists. They obtain their food and energy by sunlight and photosynthesis. They have chloroplasts.
Let us analyze the different examples given in the options:
Diatoms- it is a photosynthesizing algae. They are aquatic and stationary. It is made up of a siliceous skeleton. The shell is called frustule.
Euglenoids- They belong to the kingdom protista. They are found in both marine and freshwater. Euglenoids have chloroplasts in them and perform photosynthesis. They are photosynthetic protists.
Slime moulds- They belong to the kingdom protista. It feeds on dead plant material and microorganisms present in them. It lives in gutters, drains, forests and soils. It is not a photosynthetic protist.
sarcodines- Some sarcodines are free living and others are parasitic. They belong to the phylum protozoans. It is not photosynthetic protists.
Dinoflagellates- they belong to the kingdom protista and are photosynthetic. Some species show bioluminescence.
ciliates- They belong to protozoans. They have hair-like appearance and are similar to flagella but shorter than them. It is not a photosynthetic protist.
zooflagellates- They belong to the kingdom protista but they neither have chloroplasts nor they prepare their own food. It is a non-photosynthetic protist.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Apart from photosynthetic protists are heterotrophs as they do phagocytosis. Some are non-motile, others show locomotion with the help of cilia and flagella. The common method of reproduction is asexual.