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Radiolarian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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What are Radiolarians; Radiolaria are holoplanktonic protozoa widely distributed in the oceans. They occur throughout the water column from near surface to hundreds of meters depth.
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Radiolaria are protozoa distinguished 1) by segregation of their soft anatomy into the central capsule, containing the endoplasm, and the surrounding ectoplasm (or calymma), and 2) by their siliceous (opaline) skeletons of the large majority of species.
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Radiolaria can range anywhere from 30 microns to 2 mm in diameter. Their skeletons tend to have arm-like extensions that resemble spikes, which are used both to increase surface area for buoyancy and to capture prey.
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Many species of Radiolaria inhabit masses of ocean water, and occupy faunal niches or biographical zones comparable with other zooplankton. Radiolarian species are non-motile; they drift along water currents while those currents compartmentalize the ocean into finer ecological domains.
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Micscape Magazine for enthusiast microscopy ... The Radiolaria are a group of unicellular organisms perhaps more commonly met with as prepared slides, rather than in life. As living creatures they can be encountered in the great oceans but more commonly in the Central Pacific.
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This teaching and learning web-site is intended as an introduction to micropalaeontology. Micropalaeontology is the study of microfossils (any fossil generally less than 1mm in size). This page covers radiolaria. ... Radiolaria are holoplanktonic protozoa and form part of the zooplankton, they are non-motile (except...
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Radiolaria are one of the most amazing groups of the protozoa. They are marine, pelagic organisms. They exhibit a complex endoskeleton, formed with silica, often radially symmetrical and very beautiful. The endoskeleton (a central capsule) covers a nucleated part of the cell and it separates this part from an ectoplasm.
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A selection of articles related to radiolaria ... A Wisdom Archive on radiolaria ... More material related to Radiolaria can be found here:
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