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A common aldehyde present in marine and freshwater diatoms, 2‐trans, 4‐trans‐decadienal (A3), is involved in the wound‐activated response of diatoms to copepod grazing. Upon breakage of the diatom cell membrane, aldehydes are enzymatically produced by the rapid conversion of precursors and strongly impact copepod reproduction by impairing egg production and hatching success, inducing teratogenic embryos modifications. In this study, A3 was assayed with the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii (Grunow) Fryxell et Hasle. The aldehyde concentration necessary to reduce 50% growth rate (EC₅₀) was 0.29 mg·L⁻¹. Decadienal was found to inhibit T. weissflogii cell growth in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner, with irreversible effects after 24 h of exposure. Decadienal induced a degenerative process, through modifications of cell membrane characteristics, interference with cell cycle progression …