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Abstract
The heliozoa of the White Sea were studied. The centro-heliozoa Heterophrys marina, H. minutus comb. n., Polyplacocystis arborescens comb, n., Choanocystis pelagica, C. kareliensis, Acanthocystis saphonovi, a desmothoracid, Hedriocystis zhadani, an actinophryid, Actinophrys tauryanini, a gymnosphaerid, Wagnerella borealis, rotosphaerid amoebae, Rabdiaster pertzovi and Elaeorhanis tauryanini, and two helioflagellates, Ciliophrys infusionum and Ptendomonas danica were found in the sea proper. The centroheliozoa Chlamydaster sterni, Parasphaerastmm marina, and Raineriophrys erinaceoides comb. n. were found in brackish water lakes, and the actinophryids Actinophrys sol and Actinosphaerium eichhornii were found in estuarine bays. The marine fauna is compared with that in freshwater lakes of the Karelian coast of the White Sea, and the issues of similarity of marine and freshwater heliozoan biotas is discussed. Oceanic water does not constitute a barrier against the distribution of species that occur in freshwater habitats as is suggested by the worldwide distribution of heliozoa in fresh waters of all continents. Heliozoa are onsidered passive benthic predators capturing food with a radial system of granuloaxopods which arrest and immobilize various kinds of small motile prey dispersed in a large volume of water. Most heliozoa can become planktonic for a short period and this contributes to their dispersal. They are then important consumers in plankton protistan communities.