Radiolaria

Colette Febvre‐Chevalier, Oceanological Observatory, Villefranche‐sur‐Mer, France
Jean Febvre, Oceanological Observatory, Villefranche‐sur‐Mer, France

Published online: June 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001985

Radiolaria are marine unicellular microorganisms characterized by skeletons of silica and the presence of cytoplasmic processes radiating from the cell body. Both the fine structure and architectural diversity of the skeletons are used as taxonomic criteria. They have been joined with Acantharia in the phylum Radiozoa Cavalier-Smith, 1987. Radiolaria are used as stratigraphy markers.

Keywords: Eukaryota; Protozoa; Actinopoda; Radiozoa; silica-based skeleton

Figure 1. Structure of a polycystid radiolarian. Skeleton (black), microtubule organizing centre and axis of the axopodia (green), capsular wall (red), surface of the cross-section through the cytoplasm (yellow), surface of the cell membrane outside the section plane (blue).
Figure 2. Scanning electron micrograph of a radiolarian skeleton: Polycystina Spumellarida, Hexacontium sp. The original resolution of this image is ×2000; it is reproduced here at ×1380. Courtesy of M Cachon.
Figure 3. Scanning electron micrograph of a radiolarian skeleton: Polycystina Nassellarida, Pterocanium trilobum. The original resolution of this image is ×2000; it is reproduced here at ×1460. Courtesy of M Cachon.
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 References
    book Anderson OG (1980) "Radiolaria". In: Levandowsky M and Hutner SH (eds) Biochemistry and Physiology of Protozoa, pp. 1–42. New York: Academic Press.
    Corliss JO (1994) An interim utilitarian (‘user-friendly’) hierarchical classification and characterization of the protists. Acta Protozoologica 33: 1–51.
    book Cachon J and Cachon M (1985) "Superclass Actinopodea Calkins, 1902". In: Lee JJ, Hutner SH and Bovee EC (eds) Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa, pp. 274–302. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press.
    book Cachon J and Cachon M (1990) "Phylum Actinopoda, Classes Polycystina (= Radiolaria) and Phaeodaria". In: Margulis L, Corliss JO, Melkonian M and Chapman D (eds) Handbook of Protoctista, pp. 334–346. Boston: Jones and Bartlett.
    book Grassé PP (1953) Traité de Zoologie. Paris: Masson.
    book Raikov IB (1982) The Protozoan Nucleus: Morphology and Evolution. Vienna: Springer.
 Further Reading
    Abelmann A and Gowing MM (1997) Spatial distribution pattern of living polycystine radiolarian taxa – baseline study for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the Southern Ocean (Atlantic sector). Marine Micropaleontology 30: 3–28.
    Anderson OR (1996) The physiological ecology of planktonic sarcodines with applications to paleoecology: Patterns in space and time. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 43: 261–274.
    Caron DA, Michaels AF, Swanberg NR and Howse FA (1995) Primary productivity by symbiont-bearing planktonic sarcodines (Acantharia, Radiolaria, Foraminifera) in surface waters near Bermuda. Journal of Plankton Research 17: 103–129.
    Chen M and Tan Z (1997) Radiolarian distribution in surface sediments of the northern and central South China Sea. Marine Micropaleontology 32: 173–194.
    Welling LA and Pisias NG (1998) Radiolarian fluxes, stocks and population residence times in surface waters of the central equatorial Pacific. Deep-Sea Research 45: 639–671.

Related Sub-Topics:

Microbial Evolution and Taxonomy | Protozoa
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Article Title: Radiolaria
 
How to Cite close
Febvre‐Chevalier, Colette, and Febvre, Jean(Jun 2001) Radiolaria. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0001985]