Hatena arenicola

Hatena arenicola
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked):	Hacrobia
(unranked):	Cryptista
Order:	Katablepharida
Genus:	Hatena
Species:	H. arenicola
Binomial name
Hatena arenicola Okamoto and Inouye, 2006

Hatena arenicola is a species of single-celled eukaryotes discovered in 2000, and first reported in 2005, It was discovered by Japanese biologists Noriko Okamoto and Isao Inouye at the University of Tsukuba, and they gave the scientific description and formal name in 2006. The species is a flagellate, and can resemble a plant at one stage of its life, in which it carries a photosynthesizing alga inside itself, or an animal, acting as predator in another stage of its life. Researchers believe that this organism is in the process of secondary endosymbiosis, in which one organism is incorporated into another, resulting in a completely new life form.

H. arenicola was first noticed as algal bloom in 2000 from Isonoura beach in Japan. It was found in the area of moderately sheltered sandy shore, where a number of algae surfaced during tsunami. The specimens were present in the upper edge of the seepage face. It can be found throughout the year, except in winter. It was originally believed to be a new green alga. However, it was discovered that the chlorophyll-bearing plastids were independent of the cell division, indicating that they were separate but temporary endosymbiotic organisms.

H. arenicola is a protist with one rounded cell having two flagella for locomotion. It feeds on algae using a complex feeding tube when it leads an independent life. The feeding tube, however, is replaced by an endysymbiotic alga. The algal endosymbiont is a green alga from the genus Nephroselmis. The endosymbiont not only acts as feeding apparatus, but also as an eye spot, by which it probably helps the protist for directional movements towards light (phototaxis).

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