01-05 December 2025
INCOIS, Hyderabad, India.
| Abstract Submission No. | ABS-06-0058 |
| Title of Abstract | A preliminary study on the distribution and diversity of Rhizarians in the Arabian Sea |
| Authors | Biraja Kumar Sahu*, D. Prabin Dora*, E. P. Harshitha |
| Organisation | CSIR ⿿ National Institute of Oceanography, Goa |
| Address | CSIR-NIO Panaji, Goa, India Pincode: 403004 E-mail: birajkumar@gmail.com |
| Country | India |
| Presentation | Poster |
| Abstract | Rhizarians are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic protists, including major groups such as Phaeodaria, Foraminifera, Acantharia, Taxopodida, and Polycystinea, in the marine environment. They build complex mineral skeletons with biogenic silica and strontium sulphate. In epipelagic and mesopelagic zones, they regulate carbon, silicon and strontium cycling, contributing notably to organic carbon stocks and biogenic silica pools in the world's oceans. In some oligotrophic environments, mixotrophic rhizarians surpass copepods in abundance, dominate zooplankton communities, and play a major role in carbon and silicon cycling (Davies et al., 2022). In the Arabian Sea, Rhizarians play an important role in the water column. There are a few studies targeting this group. The studies have shown that these can form large colonies, exhibit high diversity, and significantly contribute to plankton biomass and carbon flux, especially in regions with oligotrophic conditions (Gowing et al., 2003; Biard et al., 2016; Das et al., 2019; Xiawen et al 2023). NGS analyses indicate that rhizarian are the major parts in the sub-surface waters of central and eastern Arabian Sea (Das et al., 2019). There are very limited research regarding the diversity, distribution of rhizarians in the water column of different regions of the Arabian Sea. This article gives an overview of the previous studies and some preliminary results on the Rhizarians of the central and eastern Arabian Sea with a focus on their diversity and abundance. |
| Are you part of IIOE-2 endorsed project | no |
| Keywords | Protists, Indian Ocean, Cercozoa, Retaria |
| For Awards | no |