Studies on marine choanoflagellates I. Silicified choanoflagellates of the Isefjord (Denmark)

Abstract

Electron microscopical investigations of nanoplankton from the Isefjord area have led to the enumeration of twenty different silicified choanoflagellates. These include three species new to science, Acanthoecopsis unguiculata, Stephanoeca urnula and Pleurasiga sphyrelata. Nine of the remaining species have not previously been recorded from Denmark.

An X-ray analysis, using a combined transmission-scanning electron microscope, has demonstrated that the costal strips of the lorica of Diaphanoeca grandis Ellis consist mainly of silicon.