Direct observation of episodic growth in an abyssal xenophyophore (Protista)

Abstract

Three specimens of the xenophyophore Reticulammina labyrinthica were photographed on the Madeira Abyssal Plain (31°6.1′N, 21°10.9′W; 4944 m) using the Bathysnap time-lapse camera system. During the 8 month observation period, the specimens underwent an estimated 3–10 fold increase in volume. Growth occurred episodically in several distinct phases, each lasting 2–3 days, during which sediment was collected and incorporated into the test. These phases were separated by fairly regular periods of about 2 months when the organisms showed little obvious activity. The growth phases were approximately synchronous between specimens. However, it is not clear whether the periodicity and apparent synchronization of these events resulted from an external (environmental) cue or whether growth is internally controlled and the synchronization arose by chance. These unique observations, which represent the first direct measurement of growth in any abyssal organism living outside a hydrothermal vent field, suggest that xenophyophores combine test growth with deposit feeding. The tests appear to grow more quickly, and to be more active, dynamic structures, than previously believed.