A tubular protozoan predator: a burrow selectively filled with tubular agglutinated protozoans (Xenophyophorea, Foraminifera) in the abyssal South China Sea
TL;DRAbstract
We report the occurrence of an unusual agglutinated protozoan-filled burrow recovered in a box core collected in 1998 from a depth of 2496 m in the South China Sea. The onion-shaped burrow occurring some 8 cm beneath the sediment surface was packed full with specimens of xenophyophoreans and foraminifera dominated by a single genus (Aschemonella) that had been living on the surface of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo ash layer. This selective scavenging of epibenthic tubular agglutinated protozoans contributes to the patchiness of the benthic fauna on the sea floor. Because the tubular protozoans selectively agglutinate mafic mineral grains from the volcanic ash, two levels of biological scavenging are involved with the redistribution of these volcanic grains.
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We report the occurrence of an unusual agglutinated protozoan-filled burrow recovered in a box core collected in 1998 from a depth of 2496 m in the South China Sea. The onion-shaped burrow occurring some 8 cm beneath the sediment surface was packed full with specimens of xenophyophoreans and foraminifera dominated by a single genus (Aschemonella) that had been living on the surface of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo ash layer. This selective scavenging of epibenthic tubular agglutinated protozoans contributes to the patchiness of the benthic fauna on the sea floor. Because the tubular protozoans selectively agglutinate mafic mineral grains from the volcanic ash, two levels of biological scavenging are involved with the redistribution of these volcanic grains.
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