Many benthic dinoflagellates were initially described under the genus Exuviaella, which lacks an apical spine and was thusly different from Prorocentrum. Abé (1967) initially discussed a synonymy between the two genera and in 1975 this was formalized by Dodge. McLachlan et al. 1997 made arguments to reinstate Exuviaella for large, benthic species lacking an apical spine, but these have not been widely accepted. Molecular data show that the two groups diverged early in the phylogeny of the genus Prorocentrum.
Prorocentrum is a dinoflagellate genus described by Ehrenberg in 1834 with P. micans as the type species. It comprises several planktonic and benthic species found across the world's oceans.
