Cynthia UR Nature Bound

Hello readers, my trek continues exploring the unfamiliar domain of the microscopic individuals that inhabit our oceans; they created much of the very land we stand on and to this day effect the carbon cycle as they have for over 500 million years.

My new friends are numerous and each quite unique in complexity in a long evolutionary development.

Relationships like Acantharea living symbiotically with Zooxanthellae; from within sarcodine Acantharea is contained a Zooxanthellae that perform photosynthesis, providing a carbon food source that results in nutrients in return to Microalgae that are not photosynthetic (autotrophs), some are heterotrophic; dinoflagellates eat bacteria, other microalgae, and even their own. Today I’ve chosen a phytoplankton grazer Calanus spp. (calanoid copepods) for the spot light picture. Something tells me these little guys and I will be real close. This picture compliments of a reference guide;

 Kirby, Richard. R. (2011) Ocean Drifters a secret world beneath the waves. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books U.S.Inc.