The Role of Phaeodarian Radiolarians in Antarctic BiologicalOceanic Processes

腐食放射虫是浮游原生动物，在海洋碳和硅循环中起作用。在南极水域，phaoodarians基本上被忽视了，因为它们的分布与其他原生动物非常不同。它们有几个特点，使它们在原生动物中独一无二，在南大洋可能很重要。食腐动物吃各种各样的食物，从细菌到小的后生动物，尤其是硅质细胞和颗粒。当食腐动物死亡时，它们的硅质骨架比多胱氨酸骨架更容易溶解。在南极水域，大型褐藻可能比其他海洋中更丰富，在泛光带以下的大型褐藻代表了大量的二氧化硅。Phaeodarians也是纳米浮游生物种群和大型浮游动物之间的潜在联系。Gowing将确定食腐动物和多胱氨酸的丰度和分布，并通过空泡含量分析和摄食率测量来研究食腐动物的摄食生物学。这些调查将是确定食腐生物在南极碳和硅循环以及食物网中的重要性的第一步。

Phaeodarian radiolarians are planktonic protozoans that play a role in oceanic carbon and silica cycles. Phaeodarians have been largely ignored in Antarctic waters because their distributions are so different from those of other protozoans. They have several characteristics that make them unique among protozoans and potentially important in the Southern Ocean. Phaeodarians consume a wide variety of foods from bacteria to small metazoans, especially siliceous cells and particles. When phaeodarians die, their siliceous skeletons are more susceptible to dissolution than polycystine skeletons. In Antarctic waters where large phaeodarians can be more abundant than in other oceans, a large phaeodarian below the euphotic zone represents a substantial amount of silica. Phaeodarians are also potential links between nanoplankton populations and macrozooplankton. Gowing will determine the abundance and distribution of phaeodarians and polycystines, and investigate the feeding biology of phaeodarians by vacule content analysis and measurement of feeding rates. These investigations will be the first steps in determining the importance of phaeodarians in Antarctic carbon and silica cycles and in food webs.