Phthanotrochus
| Phthanotrochus | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Phthanotrochidae | ||||||||||||
| Arnold , 1978 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Phthanotrochus | ||||||||||||
| Arnold, 1978 |
Phthanotrochus is the only genus in the family of Phthanotrochidae , a group of shell-bearing, sea-dwelling protists from the group of foraminifera .
Features and way of life
The small housings , usually 100 to 120 micrometers in diameter, are single-chambered at an early stage, later they can be biloculinary, that is, the median plane of the chamber is offset from one another at 180 ° angles. The wall is protein-based, membranous, colorless and translucent, mineral particles are missing.
The first chamber is round to ovoid, the aperture is terminal. The first aperture has a protruding stomostyle and a rim, later chambers have several apertures, which are then designed as an inconspicuous tubular opening.
The pseudopods are granular, thread-like and branched like a network, the protoplasm is multinucleated, the cell nuclei have a diameter of around 6 micrometers.
The animals were picked up from deep under debris accumulations in the tidal area of Monterey Bay, California . Even single-chambered individuals can release numerous amoeboid gametes and thus reproduce sexually.
Systematics
Both genus and family were first described in 1978 based on the type species Phthanotrochus arcanus . Fossil finds are not available.
proof
- Alfred R. Loeblich, Jr., Helen Tappan: Foraminiferal genera and their classification , E-Book des Geological Survey Of Iran , 2005, Online