summarized the state of potential ornithocercus phylogeny and placed them in clade with citharistes and histioneis with which the ectosymbiontic feature is shared. this indicates that a common ancestor of these genera likely gained this relationship with cyanobacteria. both ornithocercus and histioneis have cyanobacteria living between cingular lists whereas citharistes have their ectosymbionts in a dorsal girdle-chamber. practical importance in 2008 a study was published in which temporal changes in dinoflagellate composition in coastal waters off the korean peninsula were analyzed. they found tropical oceanic species of ornithocercus which were previously rare or unrecorded around the peninsula. a follow up study in 2013 confirmed the presence of numerous tropical dinoflagellate species including several species of ornithocercus. together, the studies confirmed changes in phytoplankton communities in korean waters by identifying dinoflagellate species changes, with the second paper both verifying the first and widening the scope of the changes. the authors suggest that these trends could be a result of increasing sea surface temperatures due to global warming. as such, ornithocercus species could be used as indicator species and evidence for climate change and specifically marine ecosystem change if coupled with other environmental data. the indian oil sardine (sardinella longiceps) is one of the most important commercial fishes in india. these fish are known to occasionally feed heavily on ornithocercus, specifically in the demersal zone (the study was performed off mangalore). as such, the welfare of ornithocercus as a food chain link has commercial implications.