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. It is the type species of the genus Vulcanodinium . Molecular phylogenetics suggests that it belongs in the order Peridiniales. ^[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. ^[3] The species is photosynthetic and seems to prefer warm saline environments. ^{[3] [4]} It is found at least in warm Pacific and Mediterranean waters, and is likely globally distributed. ^{[4] [5]}

V. rugosum is notable as the source organism for a family of marine cyclic imine neurotoxins such as pinnatoxins, first identified in association with molluscs of the genus Pinna , ^[5] or Portimin A, the causal toxin behind a severe inflammatory skin disease in fishermen on the Senegalese Atlantic coast in 2020 and 2021. ^{[6] [7]} Production of toxin and the distribution of toxin types appear to depend on both environmental conditions and strain. ^{[4] [5]}

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