双鞭毛虫门（Dinoflagellata）过去算作藻类植物的一门。目前被分类为囊泡藻界的一个门。约1000种。分布于池塘、湖泊和海洋中。

也有称作“甲藻门”的。但是，根据《中国生物物种名录》2011版，在双鞭毛虫门之下设有甲藻纲。Dinoflagellata是旋(希腊语的 δῖνος dinos)+鞭毛虫(flagellate)之意。

由于该门的种类有一半为自营，另一半为异营。也有很多物种是混合营养。所以长期以来植物学家与动物学家把该门划入自己的研究领域，分别称为“甲藻”与“双鞭毛虫”。植物学家把它们视作一大类的藻类，命名为Pyrrophyta或Pyrrhophyta，意为"fire algae"，其中pyrr(h)os是希腊语的“火”之意。

The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος dinos "whirling" and Latin flagellum "whip, scourge") are a large group of flagellate protists that constitute the phylum Dinoflagellata. Most are marine plankton, but they are common in freshwater habitats, as well. Their populations are distributed depending on temperature, salinity, or depth. Many dinoflagellates are known to be photosynthetic, but a large fraction of these are in fact mixotrophic, combining photosynthesis with ingestion of prey (phagotrophy). In terms of number of species, dinoflagellates form one of the largest groups of marine eukaryotes, although this group is substantially smaller than the diatoms. Some species are endosymbionts of marine animals and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs. Other dinoflagellates are colorless predators on other protozoa, and a few forms are parasitic (see for example Oodinium, Pfiesteria). Some dinoflagellates produce resting stages, called dinoflagellate cysts or dinocysts, as part of their lifecycles.