Foram Gallery
by Brian Darnton (UK)
& Wim van Egmond (NL)

Foraminifera, or 'forams' as they are often called, are small marine creatures that build a delicate house (called 'test') from chalk. Although they resemble molluscs they are in fact single cellular protists, but they can be quite large for organisms with only one cell. The largest forams are more than 10 centimetres wide. The pyramids of Egypt are made of stone cantaining these creatures. The forams in this gallery are up to 2mm. and were collected from beaches around the Mediterranean sea. Some are fossils, some are recent bethnic living on the sea bed and others are recent but planktonic in life style, floating about in the upper seawater.

The image on the right shows Rosalina globularis in darkfield illumination. This species is a good example of the distinct punctured shell that gave Foraminifera (which means 'bearer of little holes') their name. Through these pores they extend their long thread-like 'filopods' to capture prey.

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