A few foram species are parasitic, infecting sponges, molluscs, corals, or even other foraminifera. Parasitic strategies vary; some act as ectoparasites, using their pseudopodia to steal food from the host, while others burrow through the shell or body wall of their host to feed on its soft tissue.
A foram, short for foraminifera, is a single-celled ocean organism that builds a tiny shell around itself. Despite being just one cell, forams are remarkably complex.
Measurement of stable oxygen isotopes in planktonic and benthic foram shells from hundreds of deep-sea cores worldwide have been used to map past surface and bottom water temperatures. This data helps us understand how climate and ocean currents have changed in the past and may change in the future. OIL EXPLORATION
LINKS TO FORAM RESOURCES World Foraminifera Database - part of the register of marine species. Pformas@Microtax - major taxonomic resource for planktonics. Organisations: Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research - The Micropaleontological Society - Micropress Europe and Grzybowksi Foundation - Microfossil Club Hamburg - just to mention a few.
Examples of foram in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web Looking like a puffy white star studded with little pearls, this is the shell of an amoeboid protist called a foraminifera, or foram. Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010
Petroleum geologists use foram fossils to identify potential oil and gas reservoirs. Scientists study modern and ancient forams to understand how ocean chemistry and climate have changed over time.
Introduction to Foraminifera. Over hundreds of millions of years these tiny creatures have swarmed the ocean bestowing to the planet their exquisite dwellings, a smidgen of which was once fashioned into the Egyptian Pyramids