The effects of the calcium channel blockers, verapamil, diltiazem and lanthanum ions and the Ca2+ dependency on motility as well as the photophobic response (stop-response) of Gyrodinium dorsum were studied. At Ca2+ concentrations below 10-3 M, motility was inhibited. La3+ inhibits the stop-response, in contrast to verapamil and diltiazem. The only calcium channel blocker that increased the amount of non-motile cells was verapamil. The results indicate that motility are Ca2+ dependent and that the stop-responses of G. dorsum could be affected by extracellular Ca2+. Effects of the photosythesis inhibitor (DCMU) on the stop-response was also determined. With background light of different wavelength (614, 658 and 686 nm) the stop-response increased. DCMU inhibited this effect of background light. Negative results with the monoclonal antibody Pea-25 directed to phytochrome and the results with DCMU, indicate that the stop-response of G. dorsum is coupled to photosynthesis rather than to a phytochrome-like pigment. Oxygen evolution, but not cell movement, was completely inhibited by 10-6 M DCMU.