Ventricaria ventricosa, commonly known as Sailor’s Eyeballs, is the largest single-celled algae in the world. Its structure is based on a hard-shelled crust that shines like glass and is filled with a plasma-like fluid that builds one single cell.
Looking into them might remind of looking into a crystal ball or an alternative universe.
Sailor’s Eyeballs © Ülar Tikk
There are two species that occur on reefs throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific on coral and rocky reefs where they are attached to the substrate by hair-like filaments called rhizoids.
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