Zoothamnium niveum
| Zoothamnium niveum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| (unranked): | SAR |
| Phylum: | Ciliophora |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | Zoothamniidae |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | Z. niveum |
| Binomial name | |
| Zoothamnium niveum Ehrenberg, 1838 | |
Zoothamnium niveum is a species of ciliate protozoan which forms feather-shaped colonies in marine coastal environments. The ciliates form a symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing chemosynthetic bacteria of the species "Candidatus Thiobios zoothamnicoli", which live on the surface of the colonies and give them their unusual white color.