Cafeteria roenbergensis is a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 Bicosoecid described in 1988 by Tom Fenchel

Tom Fenchel

Tom Michael Fenchel is a Danish marine ecologist and professor first at the University of Aarhus, later at the University of Copenhagen. He is a highly cited scientist and known for, among other things, Fenchel's Law. He holds PhD and D.Sc...

 and D.J. Patterson. It is the first known species of Cafeteria

Cafeteria (bicosoecid)

Cafeteria is a genus of marine bicosoecid described in 1988 by Tom Fenchel and D.J. Patterson. It was created after the discovery of a new species Cafeteria roenbergensis, a tiny eukaryotic organism that is eaten by protozoa and small invertebrates. The name is meant to indicate the importance of...

.

Description

Cafeteria roenbergensis is D-shaped and has a volume of around 20 µm³. Being a eukaryotic organism, it has a nucleus

Cell nucleus

In cell biology, the nucleus is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these...

, mitochondria, and other subcellular compartments. The posterior flagellum

Flagellum

A flagellum is a tail-like projection that protrudes from the cell body of certain prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and plays the dual role of locomotion and sense organ, being sensitive to chemicals and temperatures outside the cell. There are some notable differences between prokaryotic and...

 attaches the organism to the substrate while it is feeding. If it detaches, the cell will swim around being pulled forward by the beating of the anterior flagellum

Flagellum

A flagellum is a tail-like projection that protrudes from the cell body of certain prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and plays the dual role of locomotion and sense organ, being sensitive to chemicals and temperatures outside the cell. There are some notable differences between prokaryotic and...

. When feeding, the action of the flagellum creates a current of water that moves towards the cell. The current carries bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

, the primary food of the flagellate. The food is ingested below the base of the flagella, which is referred to as the ventral side. The flagella are anchored by ‘rootlets’ ribbons and subcellular ropes. They act as a skeleton

Skeleton

The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...

 and also support the mouth region.

Cells can replicate in under 10 hours. They reproduce by binary fission, first replicating the flagella and internal organelles before the cell divides. No sex

Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

ual activity is known for this species.

The flagella beat about 40 times per second, and they create a water current that moves about 100 micrometres/second.

Ecology

Cafeteria roenbergensis occurs in all oceans in which they have been looked for, and can grow to very high concentrations (in excess of 10,000 per ml). They may be the most abundant predator on the planet.

Genome

Of all eukaryotes studied, this species has the most functionally compact mitochondrial DNA, with only 3.4% not being used for coding purposes.

Name

Marine biologist Tom Fenchel

Tom Fenchel

Tom Michael Fenchel is a Danish marine ecologist and professor first at the University of Aarhus, later at the University of Copenhagen. He is a highly cited scientist and known for, among other things, Fenchel's Law. He holds PhD and D.Sc...

, one of the two species authorities who first described C. roenbergensis, is credited with having joked about the chromalveolate's name:
The Marine Ecology Research Station at Rønbjerg at the Limfjord

Limfjord

The Limfjord is a shallow sound in Denmark that separates the island of Vendsyssel-Thy from the rest of the Jutland Peninsula. It extends from Thyborøn Channel on the North Sea to Hals on the Kattegat. It is approximately 180 kilometres long and of an irregular shape with several bays, narrowings,...

 in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 belongs to Aarhus University.

Virus

The giant virus

Virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

 Cafeteria roenbergensis virus

Cafeteria roenbergensis virus

Cafeteria roenbergensis virus is a giant virus that infects the marine zooplankton Cafeteria roenbergensis . CroV has the largest genome of any known marine virus, consisting of ~730,000 base pairs of double-stranded DNA...

(CroV) lives within C. roenbergensis organisms.