Xenophyophore

Approximately golfball xenophyophore

The Xenophyophoren are likely to foraminifera belonging taxon mostly housing -bearing protists from the group of Rhizaria. Exceptional is its tremendous for unicellular organisms size of up to 25 centimeters. Xenophyophoren live in the deep sea.

Features

Xenophyophoren reach sizes of a few millimeters to 25 centimeters and have pseudopods on. All species form agglutinated housing, ie housing from the collected particles ( Xenophyae ). The cell itself is organized as a syncytium, ie has several nuclei, found in it is beyond Gran harboring characteristic accumulations of barium sulfate crystals. The cell is surrounded by a branched tube system, the so-called Gran Castellare, from this step out bands from fecal matter that Stercomare.

Some Xenophyophoren Granuloreticulopodien, gametes with two flagella and Heterokarien are known.

Distribution and ecology

Little is known about the life of Xenophyophoren. They are widely used in the Abyssal and the bathyal deep sea, where they mainly colonize nutrient- rich regions such as the summit or slopes of mountains or ocean floors below particularly productive surfaces.

In particular, the regions around New Zealand and the equatorial zones of the eastern Pacific represent hotspots where Xenophyophoren provide at their locations frequently also the bulk of the biomass.

Xenophyophoren feed is probably of small foraminifera.

The housings are larger Xenophyophoren habitat, refuge and food source for many small organisms due to their complex shape. Larger collections of animals can pose as a place of local biodiversity.

System

The exact systematic position of the 1904 first described by Franz Eilhard Schulze Xenophyophoren basis of conserved copies of the Siboga expedition has long been discussed until recent molecular studies pointed out that the hitherto understood as a separate class of uncertain position group is to be among the foraminifera their closest known relatives are species of the genus Rhizammina ( Astrorhizida ). Since only one type of group so far could be investigated, but the results are still considered preliminary and require confirmation.

It is assumed that a total number of species of around 100 species currently are approximately 60 species in 14 genera known. These are classically divided into two orders:

• Order Psamminida
• Order Stannomida