Foraminifera source details
Gooday, A.J., Bowser, S.S., Bett, B.J., Smith, C.R. (2000). A large testate protist, Gromia sphaerica sp. nov. (Order Filosea), from the bathyal Arabian Sea. Deep-Sea Research II. 47: 55-73.
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Gooday, A.J., Bowser, S.S., Bett, B.J., Smith, C.R.
2000
A large testate protist, Gromia sphaerica sp. nov. (Order Filosea), from the bathyal Arabian Sea.
Deep-Sea Research II
47: 55-73
Publication
The deep ocean provides a habitat for several large testate protistan taxa, e.g.,
xenophyophores and komokiaceans. However, testate amoebae (orders Lobosea and Filosea)
have never been reliably reported from below 270 m depth. Here we describe large spherical
protists, up to almost 40 mm diameter, recovered in box core, multicore, and epibenthic sledge
samples taken on the continental slope o! Oman (NW Arabian Sea) during RRS Discovery
Cruise 211. Specimens consist of an organic envelope, with numerous tiny apertures, enclosing
a mass of "ne waste pellets (stercomata). On the basis of its wall ultrastructure (revealed by
high-voltage transmission electron microscopy), this organism is identi"ed as a member of the
"losean genus Gromia. It is described herein as Gromia sphaerica sp. nov. The wall is layered
and includes the &honeycomb membrane', a structure that is unique to this genus. The new
species is the "rst gromiid to be reported from the deep sea. It lives between about 1200 and
1630 m below the main oxygen minimum zone, in an area where bottom-water oxygen
concentrations are around 0.47 ml l~1. The new gromiid species is clearly visible in bottom
photographs taken at 1273 m (2.7 individuals m~2), 1318 m (2.7 indiv. m~2), 1624 m (17.3
indiv. m~2) and 1633 m (76.5 indiv. m~2). They lie partly embedded in the sea#oor and are
sometimes grouped in twos and threes. Specimens are typically surrounded by an apron of
lighter-coloured sediment, possibly resulting from their feeding activities. Where they lie in very
close proximity, the apron around one specimen typically obscures adjacent tests.
Northern Indian Ocean
Date
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Gromia sphaerica Gooday, Bowser, Bett & Smith, 2000 (original description)