foraminifer
/ˌfɒrəˈmɪnɪfə
/noun (plural foraminifers or foraminifera /ˌfɒrəmɪˈnɪf(ə)rə/) Zoology
A single-celled planktonic animal with a perforated chalky shell through which slender protrusions of protoplasm extend. Most kinds are marine, and when they die thick ocean-floor sediments are formed from their shells. See also globigerina.
- Order Foraminiferida, phylum Rhizopoda, kingdom Protista.
- Far from land in the deep sea, where little material comes from erosion of the land, the bottom sediment is made up mainly of shells of planktonic organisms, especially foraminifera.
- These taxa consist of a broad array of organisms, including foraminifers, corals, bryozoans, mollusks, echinoderms, and fish.
Derivatives
foraminiferal
- The Gracisce packstones contain a rich foraminiferal assemblage, composed of larger and planktonic foraminifera along with authigenic glauconite.
- Furthermore, foraminiferal growth is often strongly allometric, and in many foraminifers the shape of the chamber changes during ontogeny.
- The basal stromatolite beds at both of the present localities contain large numbers of the foraminiferal disaster taxa Rectocornuspira kalhori and Earlandia sp. to the near exclusion of other forms.
foraminiferan
- These zooxanthellae may be found in many marine invertebrates, including sponges, corals, jellyfish, and flatworms, as well as within protists, such as ciliates, foraminiferans, and colonial radiolarians.
- Thus, although mollusks and foraminiferans of the area have been studied extensively, additional collecting is necessary to fully describe the brachyuran fauna.
- Tube walls have simple pores and are constructed of radiolarian and foraminiferan tests, sand grains and/or fragments of sponge spicules, connected by a cement of some kind.
foraminiferous
- Sediments along the crest and the northern slope consist of foraminiferous ooze with vertical extents of up to 800m.
- These islands, formed of old-reef and foraminiferous limestone, have experienced considerable uplift relative to sea level.
- While a wide variety of tactile surfaces may be used for this purpose, a preferred surface 40 is foraminiferous.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin foramen, foramin- (see foramen) + -fer 'bearing' (from ferre 'to bear').