Two novel Chlamydomonas mutants, ida5 and ida6, that lack subsets of inner-arm dynein have been isolated and mapped to discrete loci on the right arm of linkage group XIV. Of the seven different inner-arm dynein subspecies (a, b, c, d, e, f and g) identified by ion-exchange chromatography, ida5 lacks a, c, d and e, while ida6 lacks e alone; these are the only mutants that have been shown to lack subspecies e. Both strains can swim, albeit more slowly than the wild type. Hence, subspecies e must contribute to flagellar movement although it is unnecessary for the generation of undulating movement.