Ref ID : 7569
Fereidoun Rassoulzadegan; Granulometric Analysis of the Particles used by a Tintinnid Stenosemella ventricosa (Clap. & Lachm.) Jorg., during Lorica Building. Protistologica XVI(4):507-510, 1980
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Particle agglomerated on the lorica surface of Stenosemella ventricosa, a species of tintinnid collected in the neritic zone of the Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer, have been separated from the lorica with the help of a sonicating Ultrason apparatus and analysed with Coulter counter. The number of particles greater than 3 µm is about 200 per tintinnid, of which 80% vary in size between 3 and 5 µm. The size frequency of these particles has been compared with those observed in the natural populations of particles in the Bay and size range of particle ingested by the S. ventricosa. The populations of very fine particles and of particles over 20 µm are quite different from those forming the particle spectrum in the environment of the tintinnid. In the mediterranean neritic area this layer of particles on the lorica of S. ventricosa is about 2 µm thick. This amount could be representative of the trophic degree of the water. In this respect we discuss the ecological interest of the role played by this process of agglomerating particles on the lorica in the ecosystems studied.