Gromia sphaerica

Gromia sphaerica
Close-up of Gromia in place. Note the particles of sand and muck stuck to the surface.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Phylum: Endomyxa
Class: Gromiidea
Order: Gromiida
Family: Gromiidae
Genus: Gromia
Species:
G. sphaerica
Binomial name
Gromia sphaerica
Gooday, Bowser, Bett & Smith 2000

Gromia sphaerica is a large spherical testate amoeba, a single-celled eukaryotic organism and the largest of its genus, Gromia. The genus itself contains about 13 known species, 3 of which were discovered as late as 2005.[1] It was discovered in 2000, along the Oman margin of the Arabian Sea, at depths around 1,163 to 1,194 meters (3,816 to 3,917 ft). Specimens range in size from 4.7 to 38 millimeters (0.19 to 1.50 inches) in diameter. The test (organic shell) is usually spherical in shape and honeycombed with pores. There are filaments on the bottom of the organism, where it is in contact with the seafloor, and it is mostly filled with stercomata (waste pellets).[2]

In 2008, 30-millimeter (1.2-inch) specimens were found off the coast of Little San Salvador in the Bahamas by researchers from the University of Texas. These Gromia were discovered to make mud trails as much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length. It was previously thought that single-celled organisms were incapable of making these kinds of trails, and their cause was previously a source of speculation. The mud trails made by the Bahamian Gromia appear to match prehistoric mud trails from the Precambrian, including 1.8 billion year-old fossil trails in the Stirling formation in Australia.[3][4][5][6] Because the tracks of Gromia resemble the 1.8 billion year old traces that were believed to represent the traces of complex bilaterian worms, said tracks could have been a result of similarly giant single-celled organisms instead of complex animals.

  1. ^ Rothe, Nina; Gooday, Andrew J.; Cedhagen, Tomas; Fahrni, José; Hughes, J. Alan; Page, Anton; Pearce, Richard B.; Pawlowski, JAN (2009). "Three new species of deep-sea Gromia (Protista, Rhizaria) from the bathyal and abyssal Weddell Sea, Antarctica". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 157 (3): 451–469. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00540.x.
  2. ^ Gooday, Andrew J; Bowser, Samuel S; Bett, Brian J; Smith, Craig R (January 2000). "A large testate protist, Gromia sphaerica sp. nov. (Order Filosea), from the bathyal Arabian Sea". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 47 (1–2): 55–73. Bibcode:2000DSRII..47...55G. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(99)00100-9. Archived from the original on 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2008-11-20 – via Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
  3. ^ Matz, Mikhail V.; Tamara M. Frank; N. Justin Marshall; Edith A. Widder; Sonke Johnsen (2008-12-09). "Giant Deep-Sea Protist Produces Bilaterian-like Traces" (PDF). Current Biology. 18 (23). Elsevier Ltd: 1849–1854. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.028. PMID 19026540. S2CID 8819675. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  4. ^ Reilly, Michael (2008-11-20). "Single-celled giant upends early evolution". NBC News. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  5. ^ "Discovery of Giant Roaming Deep Sea Protist Provides New Perspective on Animal Evolution". University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences. 2008-11-20. Archived from the original on 2019-07-21. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  6. ^ "Rolling 'Sea Grape' Rocks The Fossil Record". ScienceDaily. 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2018-07-24.