Emiliania huxleyi 1528261 223826574 2008-07-06T00:36:15Z Yashgaroth 1025668 {{Taxobox | name = ''Emiliania huxleyi'' | image = Coccolithovirus.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''Emiliania huxleyi'' | domain = [[Eukaryota]] | regnum = [[Chromalveolata]] | phylum = [[Haptophyte|Haptophyta]] | classis = Prymnesiophyceae | ordo = [[Isochrysidales]] | familia = [[Noelaerhabdaceae]] | genus = ''[[Emiliania]]'' | species = '''''E. huxleyi''''' | binomial = ''Emiliania huxleyi'' | binomial_authority = (Lohm.) Hay and Mohler }} '''''Emiliania huxleyi''''', often abbreviated to simply "EHUX", is a species of [[coccolithophore]] with a global distribution from the tropics to subarctic waters. It is studied for the extensive blooms it forms in nutrient depleted waters after the reformation of the summer [[thermocline]]. Like other coccolithophores, '''''E. huxleyi''''' is a single-celled [[phytoplankton]] covered with uniquely ornamented [[calcite]] disks, coccoliths (also informally known as liths or scales). Individual coccoliths are abundant in marine sediments although complete coccospheres are more unusual. In the case of ''E. huxleyi'', not only the shell, but also the soft part of the organism may be recorded in sediments. It produces a group of chemical compounds that are very resistant to decomposition. These chemical compounds, known as [[alkenone]]s, can be found in marine sediments long after other soft parts of the organisms have decomposed. Alkenones are used by [[Earth science|earth scientists]] as a clue to past [[sea surface temperature]]s. [[Image:Cwall99 lg.jpg|thumb|left|[[Landsat]] image from 24th July 1999 of a Emiliania huxleyi bloom]] Named after [[Thomas Huxley]], it is the most numerically abundant and widespread coccolithophore species. Its [[coccolith]]s are transparent and colourless, but they are formed of calcite which refracts light very efficiently in the water column. This, and the high concentrations caused by continual shedding of their [[coccolith]]s makes ''E. huxleyi'' [[Algal bloom|blooms]] easily visible from space. [[Earth observation satellite|Satellite]] images show that blooms can cover large areas (possibly >100,000 square kilometers), with complementary shipboard measurements indicating that ''E. huxleyi'' is by far the dominant phytoplankton species under these conditions. ==References== * [http://bioinfo.csusm.edu Cocco Express - Coccolithophorids Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) & Microarray Database] * [http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/soes/staff/tt/eh/ ''Emiliania huxleyi'' Home Page] ==See also== * [[Ocean acidification]] * [[Emiliania huxleyi virus 86]] a giant marine virus that infects ''Emiliania huxleyi'' [[Category:Chromalveolata]] [[Category:Haptophytes]] [[Category:Planktology]] [[de:Emiliania huxleyi]] [[nl:Emiliania huxleyi]] [[pt:Emiliania huxleyi]]