Zoothamnium niveum

Zoothamnium niveum
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
(unranked):
SAR
Phylum:
Ciliophora
Class:
Order:
Family:
Zoothamniidae
Genus:
Species:
Z. niveum
Binomial name
Zoothamnium niveum
Ehrenberg, 1838 [1]

Zoothamnium niveum is a species of ciliate protozoan which forms feather-shaped colonies in marine coastal environments. The ciliates form a symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing chemosynthetic bacteria of the species "Candidatus Thiobios zoothamnicoli", which live on the surface of the colonies and give them their unusual white color.

  1. ^ Warren, Alan (2009). "Zoothamnium niveum Ehrenberg, 1838". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 9 August 2017.