Radiolaria: Actinomma drymodes (Sphaeroidae)

Radiolaria are marine protozoa, or tiny single celled organisms, which are found throughout the ocean. They are known to have complex, intricate and lace-like “skeletons” which are created with crystalized silica.
German biologist, Ernst Haeckel, popularized radiolarian by identifying and illustrating some 4,000 radiolarian examples. It was Haeckel’s gorgeous drawings that inspired this work. Haeckel himself describes this radiolarian specimen in his 1862 publication Report on the Radiolaria “Actinomma drymodes (Sphaeroidae). The latticed silica shell is composed of three concentric spheres which are tied together by six strong radial rods. These lie in three mutually perpendicular directions, corresponding to the three axes of the cubic system. From the outside of the outer lattice shell, (the youngest and largest), emerge numerous hair-like radial silica spicules, which are forked at their outer ends.” http://www.scipress.org/journals/forma/pdf/1401/14010079.pdf