Cornutella profunda

Cornutella profunda is a species of radiolarian in the family Theoperidae and the genus Cornutella.[1] The abundance and actual geographic span of C. profunda has not yet been fully explored, however few have been caught in various regions around the world. Samples have seen in larger numbers in the Adriatic Sea, the South China Sea, and far off the coast of Southern Africa near Namibia, and in smaller numbers in all other oceans around the world.[2][3][4]

Cornutella profunda
Cornutella profunda under a microscope
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Chromista
Phylum: Retaria
Class: Polycystinea
Order: Nassellaria
Family: Theoperidae
Genus: Cornutella
Species:
C. profunda
Binomial name
Cornutella profunda
Ehrenberg, 1856

Description

Cornutella profunda has been observed possessing a long conical shaped skeleton with holes over the entire body of the skeleton. They possess a single pseudopod which will extend from the tip of the conical structure. Like all species of radiolarian, C. profunda secretes a siliceous external skeleton and will contribute to the building of Siliceous ooze on the ocean floor once it dies. Their bodies are often found beneath this layer of "marine snow" in the sediments of oceans around the globe.[5][6] They are considered to be Holoplankton and can be found living primarily at depths greater than 300 meters in all oceans, though they can be found at different depths.[7] Due to a lack of research and the fragile nature of radiolarian skeletons,[8] it is unknown what C. profunda does for food. Some radiolarians are filter feeders, some are hunters using their pseudopodia to capture prey, and some even have symbionts when living in higher waters.[9] It is estimated that radiolarians within the class Polycystina live for approximately 1–2 months.[10]

Potential uses

Cornutella profunda, as well as several other radiolarian species, have been observed in a variety of marine environments. Since radiolarians are holoplanktonic, they can easily be moved around by currents that are moving in the water. These, as well as others, could be used to track water masses as they move through the world's oceans.[3]

References
  1. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Cornutella profunda Ehrenberg, 1856". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  2. Hu W.F.; Zhang L.L.; Chen M.H.; Zeng L.L.; Zhou W.H.; Xiang R.; Zhang Q.; Liu S.H. (February 2015). "Distribution of living radiolarians in spring in the South China Sea and its responses to environmental factors". Science China Earth Sciences. 58 (2): 270–285. doi:10.1007/s11430-014-4950-0.
  3. Krsinic, F; Krsinic, A (December 2012). "Radiolarians in the Adriatic Sea plankton (Eastern Mediterranean)". Acta Adriatica. 53 (2): 189–212.
  4. Robson, Simon (July 1983). "The distribution of Recent Radiolaria in surficial sediments of the continental margin off northern Namibia". Journal of Micropalaeontology. 2 (1): 31–38. doi:10.1144/jm.2.1.31.
  5. Nigrini C.A. 1967. Radiolaria in pelagic sediments from the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Bull. Scripps Inst. Oceanogr., 11:1-125.
  6. Riedel W.R. 1958. Radiolaria in Antarctic sediments. Rep. B.A.N.Z. Ant. Res. Exp. 1929-31, B, 6(10):219-255.
  7. Giblin, J. 2017. Selected Radiolarians as Paleoceanographic Proxies in the Central West Pacific Warm Pool (MD97-2140) Over the Past 242,000 Years "Master's Thesis". Retrieved from http://digilib.library.usp.ac.fj/gsdl/collect/usplibr1/index/assoc/HASH2f5f.dir/doc.pdf
  8. Postgraduate Unit of Micropalaeontology, University College London (2002). "Radiolaria". various. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  9. Swanberg, N.R.; Anderson, O.R. (1985). "The nutrition of Radiolarians: Trophic activity of some solitary Spumellaria". Limnology and Oceanography. 30 (3): 646–652. doi:10.4319/lo.1985.30.3.0646.
  10. "Polycystine radiolarians". tolweb.org. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
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