Abstract
Xenophyophores, large deep-sea rhizopodan protists, are very rare in Antarctic seas. One specimen of Reticulammina antarctica nov. spec. was retrieved from bathyal depths in the Weddell Sea and preserved in a comparatively good condition, thus allowing a cytological description. Faecal pellets (stercomata) enclosed within the test were found to consist primarily of mineral particles. The hypothesis is offered that nutritional nitrogen compounds adsorbed by clay minerals can be extracted by these deep-sea rhizopods.
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Riemann, F., Tendal, O.S. & Gingele, F.X. Reticulammina antarctica nov. spec. (Xenophyophora, Protista) from the Weddell Sea, and aspects of the nutrition of xenophyophores. Polar Biol 13, 543–547 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236396
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236396