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Giant Amoebas Discovered in Deepest Ocean Trench
OurAmazingPlanet.com ^ | 10/21/11

Posted on 10/21/2011 9:39:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

Gigantic amoebas have been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest region on Earth.

During a July 2011 voyage to the Pacific Ocean chasm, researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and National Geographic engineers deployed untethered landers, called dropcams, equipped with digital video and lights to explore the largely mysterious region of the deep sea.

The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches (10 centimeters), their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms.

Extreme environment, extreme creature

The researchers spotted the life forms at depths up to 6.6 miles (10,641 meters) within the Sirena Deep of the Mariana Trench. The previous depth record for xenophyophores was approximately 4.7 miles (7,500 m) in the New Hebrides Trench, although sightings in the deepest portion of the Mariana Trench have been reported.

Scientists say xenophyophores are the largest individual cells in existence. Recent studies indicate that by trapping particles from the water, xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury and are thus likely resistant to large doses of heavy metals. They also are well suited to a life of darkness, low temperature and high pressure in the deep sea.

Scripps ocean engineer Kevin Hardy (right) and marine technician Josh Manger prepare to test Hardy's deep-sea lander at Scripps' Nimitz Marine Facility. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego

"The identification of these gigantic cells in one of the deepest marine environments on the planet opens up a whole new habitat for further study of biodiversity, biotechnological potential and extreme environment adaptation," said Doug Bartlett, the Scripps marine microbiologist who organized the expedition.

(Excerpt) Read more at ouramazingplanet.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Science
KEYWORDS: amoeba; amoebas; deepest; discovered; giant; mariana; marianatrench; ocean; trench; xenophyophores
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To: Trueblackman; theDentist
Yep, I looked for a size, too.

IIRC, the giant amoeba that ate the Enterprise was 11,000 miles across.

21 posted on 10/21/2011 10:14:42 PM PDT by rhinohunter
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To: NormsRevenge

are they 4 inches on the sea floor? or do they expand to 4 inches when brought up to sea level?


22 posted on 10/21/2011 10:14:53 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: ModelBreaker

democrats will try to register them to vote


23 posted on 10/21/2011 10:18:54 PM PDT by stickywillie
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To: shibumi

Yog.


24 posted on 10/21/2011 10:19:51 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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To: MHGinTN

I think it said just one of it’s cells exceeded 4 inches. Thus my curiosity was piqued. Reminds me of the song: “The Amoeba that Ate Cincinnati”


25 posted on 10/21/2011 10:19:59 PM PDT by theDentist (fybo; qwerty ergo typo : i type, therefore i misspelll)
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To: theDentist
The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals ...

That's all they are is one cell.

26 posted on 10/21/2011 10:21:47 PM PDT by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: Salamander

Sothoth.


27 posted on 10/21/2011 10:25:56 PM PDT by shibumi (Hey! No Problem!)
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To: shibumi

H’EE-L’GEB!

[this isn’t going to end well, you know]


28 posted on 10/21/2011 10:29:03 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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To: TigersEye
AH. THANK YOU.....

SO Cincinnati is safe for now....

29 posted on 10/21/2011 10:31:31 PM PDT by theDentist (fybo; qwerty ergo typo : i type, therefore i misspelll)
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To: Salamander
Robert promises you'll be eaten last.....


30 posted on 10/21/2011 10:33:36 PM PDT by shibumi (Hey! No Problem!)
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To: theDentist
Yes, but Detroit is still in trouble.

Give me one cell and one cell only, Vasily.

31 posted on 10/21/2011 10:34:06 PM PDT by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: shibumi

Not touchin’ that comment with a 10 foot pole.

>;]


32 posted on 10/21/2011 10:37:46 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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To: theDentist
Or so The Amoebas! would have you believe......
33 posted on 10/21/2011 10:39:07 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Are the amoebas looking for residuals from James Cameron for The Abyss?


34 posted on 10/21/2011 10:42:12 PM PDT by Darkwolf377 (Obama: The stupid person`s idea of a smart person.)
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To: NormsRevenge
Four inches. That's okay then.

When I was in high school, there was a one-act play that scared the bejeebers out of me. The Amoeba. The four-foot amoeba. Big enough to skeletonize its victims in three seconds of pitch black.

Very well staged. Still creeps me out more than thirty years later - Hallowe'en coming up again.

So four inches is just fine - you don't think they swarm like piranhas, do you?

35 posted on 10/21/2011 10:48:33 PM PDT by heartwood
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To: Darkwolf377

LOL

I forgot all about that movie.


36 posted on 10/21/2011 11:00:37 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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To: Salamander

I wish I could.


37 posted on 10/21/2011 11:02:15 PM PDT by Darkwolf377 (Obama: The stupid person`s idea of a smart person.)
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To: Darkwolf377

Does anyone have any idea how large the amoeba that ate the Enterprise was?


38 posted on 10/21/2011 11:06:53 PM PDT by Osamabindead
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To: Darkwolf377

Go rent Disney’s “The Black Hole”.

That’ll purge the other one for a while.

:)


39 posted on 10/21/2011 11:08:07 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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To: Osamabindead

Didn’t Kirk give it something like an intergalactic Ipecac so the amoeba would barf them back up?


40 posted on 10/21/2011 11:10:13 PM PDT by Salamander (Alice Cooper hit me with a stick.)
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