Leptohalysis sp. 2

Kitazato, Hiroshi, Uematsui, Katsuyuki, Todo, Yuko & Gooday, Andrew J., 2009, New species of Leptohalysis (Rhizaria, Foraminifera) from an extreme hadal site in the western Pacific Ocean, Zootaxa 2059 (1), pp. 23-32 : 29-30

Leptohalysis sp. 2

Fig. 4

Description. Test curved, measuring 190 µm along curve, and comprising 11 chambers in addition to proloculus. Final chamber 25 µm wide; first chamber in front of proloculus 10 µm wide, slightly smaller than proloculus itself (~12 µm in diameter). Chambers approximately flask-shaped, with more or less straight proximal margin, and tapering towards distal end, which adjoins flat base of next chamber. All chambers, including proloculus, finely agglutinated. Grains difficult to resolve individually using light microscopy, but appear to adjoin edge to edge rather than overlap.

Remarks. The single specimen is immersed in glycerol and it has only been examined by light microscopy. The flask-shaped chambers are typical of the genus Leptohalysis . In fact, the shape of the chambers is remarkably similar to that of L. catella , the genotype first described by Höglund (1947) from the Gullmar Fjord, Sweden. However, because of the enormous geographical and bathymetric separation between the Gullmar Fjord and the Challenger Deep, we hesitate to assign our single individual to this species.

Figures

FIGURE 4: Leptohalysis sp. 2, photographed using transmitted light. Scale bar = 50 µm.