Micro-CT 3D imaging reveals the internal structure of three abyssal xenophyophore species (Protista, Foraminifera) from the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

ABSTRACT: Xenophyophores, giant foraminifera, are distinctive members of the deep-sea megafauna that accumulate large masses of waste material ('stercomare') within their agglutinated tests, and organise their cells as branching strands enclosed within an organic tube (the 'granellare' system). Using non-destructive, three-dimensional micro-CT imaging we explored these structures in three species from the abyssal eastern Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). In Psammina spp., the low-density stercomare occupied much of the test interior, while high-density granellare strands branched throughout the structure. In Galatheammina sp. the test comprised a mixture of stercomare and test particles, with the granellare forming a web-like system of filaments. The granellare occupied 2.8-5.1%, the stercomare

SUBMITTER: Gooday AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6092355 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature