Marine microorganisms: How to survive below the seafloor

Foraminifera, an ancient and ecologically highly successful group of marine organisms, are found on and below the seafloor. Geobiologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich report that several species not ...

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Foraminifera

Allogromiida Carterinida Fusulinida- extinct Globigerinida Involutinida - extinct Lagenida Miliolida Robertinida Rotaliida Silicoloculinida Spirillinida Textulariida incertae sedis    Xenophyophorea    Reticulomyxa

The Foraminifera ("hole bearers"), or forams for short, are a large group of amoeboid protists which are among the commonest plankton species. They have reticulating pseudopods, fine strands of cytoplasm that branch and merge to form a dynamic net. They typically produce a test, or shell, which can have either one or multiple chambers, some becoming quite elaborate in structure. These shells are made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or agglutinated sediment particles. About 275,000 species are recognized, both living and fossil. They are usually less than 1 mm in size, but some are much larger, and the largest species reaching up to 20 cm.

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