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October 2004 (1)
I was wondering if it was possible that somebody within your organization could give me species (or genus) names of these specimens? They are from plankton samples taken from the upper 250m along the west coast of Vancouver Island during early September (2004). I can supply collection info if necessary. I hope someone will recognize them.

I really appreciate the help.

Moira Galbraith
Zooplankton Taxonomist
B.C., Canada

Moira Galbraith 2004/10/06


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A, B and C look like Aulosphaera or a related Phaeodarian genus - see Haeckel 1887, Report on the Challenger Radiolaria, available online at:http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/haeckel/challenger/index.htm ; C looks rather like Kozo Takahashi's nassellarian Conicavus tipiopsis - see Takahashi, K., Radiolaria: flux, ecology, and taxonomy in the Pacific and Atlantic. in Ocean Biocoenosis Series, edited by Honjo, S., pp. 303, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA, 1991a. (this is a reprint of his 1981 Ph.D. thesis). The photos tho don't show enough detail to give a precise assignment (nor am I a specialist on the living rad plankton). But perhaps this helps a bit nonetheless.

dave lazarus (2004/10/06)


The last image looks like Sponopyle osculosa or Prunopyle titan(which might be morphs of the same critter)

Jon Sloan (2004/10/06)


Mistery rad


A and B are definitely Phaeodaria, either Aulosphaeridae or Sagosphaeridae. More detail is needed in order to get more precise; among other differences, the former have hollow tubes while in the latter family they are solid.
C is probably also a Phaeodaria, a Coelodendridae (probably Coelographis sp.)
D: no idea.
E: is it discoidal or spherical? I get the impression it’s not flattened; if so, then it could be a Castanellidae (also Phaeodaria), probably Castanella maxima.

Demetrio Boltovskoy (2004/10/06)


The illustrated form looks similar to Aulospharea labradoriensis Borgert illustrated by Reshetnyak, 1955, 1965 and 1966.

Reshetnyak, V.V., 1966. Fauna of the USSR. Deepwater Phaeodarian radiolarians of the Northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Zoologicheskii Institut, Novaya Seriya, no. 94, 208 pages.

Annika Sanfilippo (2004/10/06)


These are all Phaeodarians. Boltovskoy is right on all accounts, but I will add a few comments. A. and B. are indeed aulosphaerids or sagosphaerids, examples of the radiolarians' dazzling development of geodesic architecture, a few million years before Buckminster Fuller! D. looks much like C. and is likely also a coelodendrid. E. is definitely a castanellid and indeed probably Castanella maxima Schmeidt 1907, which may be synonymous with C. thomsoni Haeckel 1887.

Stan Kling (2004/10/06)


I just want to thank everyone for all their input, I will take all the info and run with it. I have some better material on its way to answer some of the questions about the finer details.

Moira (2004/10/09)


A and B are quite common north of Hawaii, I have many photos (very messy with debris) of living cells, which are brilliant carmine. They appear as red specks with the naked eye. I wonder if some subtropical water got diverted to BC?

Dean Jacobson (2013/08/02)


A: Aulatractus ternaria (Six triangular nets, with seven nodal points of radial tubes)
B: Aulosophaera trigonopa

Sonia Munir (2017/07/07)



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