Radiolaria   GalleryCollageGlossaryMicroscopesBooksLinksAbout  

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. You can find more info about radiolaria at http://www.radiolaria.org/.

   The famous and beautiful drawings of Radiolaria were made by Ernst Haeckel and published in a book Die Radiolarien (Berlin, 1862), available online from the Kurt Stüber's Online Library. Even more amazing resource is a Report on the Radiolaria collected by Ernst Haeckel during H.M.S. Challenger voyage 1873-1876.

Morphology of the Radiolaria skeletons:
Eucyrtidium morphology Eucyrtidium morphology

    Most of the presented specimens come from the following samples, courtesy of Prof. Annika Sanfilippo and Mr. Warren Smith, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD:

  • Equatorial Pacific, 38-40 cm, Quaternary (JYN V 38P)
  • Equatorial Pacific, 81-83 cm, Late Middle Eocene (DSDP 16-162-6-4)
  • Equatorial Pacific, 100-102 cm, Early Pliocene (DSDP 9-77B-7-4)
  • Equatorial Pacific, 65-67 cm, Pliocene/Late Miocene (DSDP 9-77B-10-2)
  • Gulf of Mexico/Carribean, Middle Eocene (DSDP 15-149-34-CC)
  • Gulf of Mexico/Carribean, 42-44cm, Early Oligocene (DSDP 10-94-12-4)
  • Indian Ocean, 133-135cm, Quaternary (DSDP 24-238-2-6)
  • Indian Ocean, 99-101cm, Pliocene/Late Miocene (DSDP 24-238-18-6)
and from the Eocene sediments from Barbados island (received from WARD's Natural Science supply house).

The images were processed using a CombineZ v.4.2 program (by Alan Hadley) to increase a depth of field. Please note: I'm not 100% sure if the presented genera are correctly identified. I will appreciate your comments very much.

Calocyclas
Calocyclas
Dictyoprora
Dictyoprora
Eusyringium
Eusyringium
Heliodiscus
Heliodiscus
Hexastylus
Hexastylus
Lithochytris
Lithochytris
Elaphospyris
Lophospyris
Lychnocanium
Lychnocanoma
Podocyrtis
Podocyrtis
Podocyrtis
Thyrsocyrtis
Stylosphaera
Xiphosphaera
Xiphostylus
Xiphostylus

  droplet • Microscopy of the Protozoa Copyright © 2003-2008 2003-2008 Piotr Rotkiewicz  
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