portrait

Description:

Hastigerina (has-tidge-err-ine-a) pelagica, a large planktonic foraminiferan, in which the test (broken) is formed of almost spherical chambers. The test gives rise to long spines as well as to many pseudopodia. This species contains commensal algae, and some are visible as orange dots in the pseudopodial halo around the cell. This is an example of one of the four types of large amoebae which is common in the marine water column. Dark ground image by Linda Amaral-Zettler