Cthulhu macrofasciculumque
| Cthulhu macrofasciculumque | |
|---|---|
.png)
| |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Metamonada |
| Phylum: | Parabasalia |
| Class: | Trichomonadea |
| Order: | Honigbergiellida |
| Family: | Cthulhuidae |
| Genus: | Cthulhu James & Keeling, 2012 |
| Species: | C. macrofasciculumque
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cthulhu macrofasciculumque James & Keeling, 2012
| |
Cthulhu macrofasciculumque is a species of excavates. It lives in the guts of termites.[1]
Habitat
[edit | edit source]It lives in the hindgut of Prorhinotermes simplex (Cuban subterranean termite) and helps them to digest wood.[2]
Appearance
[edit | edit source]The microbe's length is about a fifth of the width of a human hair, in the range of 10 to 20 μm, and it has around 20 flagella. Cthylla is slightly smaller, with only five flagella.[3]
Naming
[edit | edit source]The octopus-like movements and appearance of Cthulhu macrofasciculumque (as well as another protist that assists in the digestion of wood by termites) reminded researcher Erick James of Cthulhu, H. P. Lovecraft's fictional cosmic entity. James named the other protist, Cthylla microfasciculumque, after Cthulhu's "daughter" Cthylla.[1]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
 | This Excavata-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |