Tintinnids
| Tintinnids | ||||||||||||
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Dictyocysta miter |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tintinnida | ||||||||||||
| Kofoid & Campbell 1929 |
The Tintinnid (Tintinnida) are marine (rare in freshwater and brackish water living) ciliates (ciliates) and belong to the zooplankton . The 15 families of this order comprise more than 1000 species.
features
As a special feature, they have a goblet to jug-shaped Lorica (outer shell) made of organic material ( proteins ), which in some species also contains mineral components. Only such forms can be found as microfossils in sedimentary rocks , while the purely organic housings of most representatives are at best preserved in conservation deposits .
The casing of the tintinnids is of a wabriger design and consists of gelatinous or chitin-like material.
ecology
The ciliates between 0.002 and 0.64 mm in size feed mainly on nannoplanktic diatoms and autotrophic flagellates . With this diet, they form an important link for the transfer of organic material between the trophic levels of the food chain between bacteria and larger zooplankton ( microbial loop ).
proof
- ^ CM Lalli & TR Parsons: Biological Oceanography - An Introduction
- ↑ Urania animal kingdom invertebrates 1 Dr. rer. nat. habil Hans-Eckerd Gruner, 1981 Berlin, 3rd edition, Urania-Verlag
Web links
swell
- Description of the picture of the month June 2003 at the Center for Microscopy at the University of Basel