Original descriptions of taxa. For coccolithophores, and many calcispheres, these are pages from the Farinacci & Howe Catalog of Calcareous Nannofossils. In other cases (e.g. non-calcifying haptophytes) the data is directly compiled on this site. The "Catalogue of Calcareous Nannofossils" was originally compiled by Prof A. Farinacci 1969-1989, since 2000 it has been updated and extended by Richard Howe - see The Farinacci and Howe Catalog - an Introduction.
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Current identification/main database link: Chrysochromulina simplex Estep et al. 1984; emend. Birkhead and Pienaar 1995
Compiled data
Original Description
Etymology:
Extra details from original publication
Remarks: This species possesses a very long haptonema which, like many other Chrysochromulina species, is coiled after fixation (Fig. 14). The most striking feature of this protist, other than the simplicity of its scale pattern, is the variability in both scale size and pattern. The largest scales of a single individual may be twice as large as the smallest (Fig. 15). A constant gradation in scale size demonstrates that there is one scale type rather than two. Alhough scale and spine size have been shown to be variable between different individuals of the same species (LEADBEATER 1972), this is the first Chrysochromulina species with this degree of variability within single individuals.
The pattern present on the plate scales in this species, radial on the proximal face and concentric on the distal, is present in several Chrysochromulina species, including C. ephippium, C. herdlensis, and C. mantoniae (MANTON & LEADBEATER 1974). Changes in scale size are accompanied by small changes in pattern, for example, larger scales have a greater number of more closely spaced lines on the proximal face and sometimes have one or two dimples at the center of the scale (Figs. 16-18).
Scale micrographs of incomplete individuals of this species have been previously published under the name Chrysochromulina « Plymouth 383 » by MOESTRUP (1979) and HALLEGRAEF (1983). Thomsen states (pers. comm. in MOESTRUP 1979) that an identical, undescribed species resides in the Plymouth Culture Collection.
Present at sta. '35 & 65 m, 3/1 & 35 m, 4/65 m, 6/35,65 & 100 m, 7/35 65m, 8/35 & 65m and 9/1 & 100m
Birkhead, M. & Pienaar, R. N. (1995b). The taxonomy and ultrastructure of Chrysochromulina simplex (Prymnesiophyceae). Phycologia. 34: 145-156. gs Estep, K. W., Davis, P. G., Hargraves, P. E. & Sieburth, J. M. (1984). Chloroplast containing microflagellates in natural populations of North Atlantic nanoplankton, their identification and distribution, including a description of five new species of Chrysochromulina (Prymnesiophyceae). Protistologica. 20: 613-634. gs Hallegraeff, G. M. (1983). Scale-bearing and loricate nanoplankton from the East Australian current. Botanica Marina. 26: 493-515. gs Leadbeater, B. S. C. (1972). Fine structural observations on six new species of Chrysochromulina (Haptophyceae) from Norway with preliminary observations on scale production in C. microcylindra sp. nov. Sarsia. 49: 65-80. gs Manton, I. & Leadbeater, B. S. C. (1974). Fine-structural observations on six species of Chrysochromulina from wild Danish marine nanoplankton, including a description of C. campanulifera sp. nov. and a preliminary summary of the nanoplankton as a whole. Biologiske Skrifter, Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. 20: 1-26. gs O Moestrup, Ø. (1979). Identification by electron microscopy of marine nanoplankton from New Zealand, including the description of four new species. New Zealand. Journal of Botany. 17: 61-95. gsReferences:
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Chrysochromulina simplex: Catalog entry compiled by Jeremy Young. Viewed: 17-2-2025
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