A new Foraminifer

Selective zircon accumulation in a new benthic foraminifer, Psammophaga zirconia, sp. nov.

Benthic foraminifera are single-celled eukaryotes that make a protective organic, agglutinated or calcareous test. Some agglutinated, single-chambered taxa, including Psammophaga Arnold, 1982, retain mineral particles in their cytoplasm, but the selective mechanism of accumulation is not clear. Here, we report the ability of a foraminiferal species to select and accumulate zircons and other hea...

Calcification acidifies the microenvironment of a benthic foraminifer (Ammonia sp.)

Longitudinal differentiation among pelagic populations in a planktic foraminifer

Evolutionary processes in marine plankton have been assumed to be dependent on the oceanic circulation system, which transports plankton between populations in marine surface waters. Gene flow facilitated by oceanic currents along longitudinal gradients may efficiently impede genetic differentiation of pelagic populations in the absence of confounding marine environmental effects. However, how ...

Arnoldiellina fluorescens gen. et sp. nov.--a new green autofluorescent foraminifer from the Gulf of Eilat (Israel).

A new monothalamous (single-chambered) soft-walled foraminiferal species, Arnoldiellina fluorescens gen. et sp. nov., was isolated from samples collected in the Gulf of Eilat, Israel. The species is characterized by a small elongate organic theca with a single aperture of allogromiids. It is characterized by the emission of green autofluorescence (GAF) that has so far not been reported from for...

Sieve Plates and Habitat Adaptation in the Foraminifer Planulina ornata

Planulina ornata (d'Orbigny), a coarsely perforate species of foraminifera having a low trochospiral test, was recovered attached to phosphatic hardgrounds from the lower oxygen-minimum zone off Peru. Above the base of individual pores are calcified, perforate sieve plates, the largest so far described. Structure of the pores suggests a possible association with mitochondria and respiratory fun...