Foraminifera specimens blue background
Foraminifera are found in the deepest parts of the ocean such as the Mariana Trench and in particular the deepest point known in the oceans, the Challenger Deep. At these depths, below the carbonate compensation depth, the calcium carbonate of the tests is soluble in water due to the extreme pressure. The foraminifera found in the Challenger Deep thus have no test, but instead have an organic wall. At the Challenger Deep were found four species known from no other place in the ocean, one of which also comprises a unique genus endemic to the region. They are Resigella laevis and R. bilocularis, Nodellum aculeata, and Conicotheca nigrans (the unique genus). The Foraminifera, ("Hole Bearers") or forams for short, are a large group of amoeboid protists with reticulating pseudopods, fine strands of cytoplasm that branch and merge to form a dynamic net.
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Keywords: background, biology, blue, foraminifera, marine, microscopy, palaeo, specimens
