Braarudosphaera bigelowii is a coastal coccolithophore in the fossil record going back 100 million years. The family Braarudosphaeraceae are single-celled coastal phytoplanktonic algae with calcareous scales with five-fold symmetry, called pentaliths. With 12 sides, it has a regular dodecahedral structure, approximately 10 micrometers across.[2]
The genus name of Braarudosphaera is in honour of Trygve Braarud (1903–1985), was a Norwegian botanist. He specialized in marine biology, and was affiliated with the University of Oslo.[3]
^ abHagino, K., Onuma, R., Kawachi, M. and Horiguchi, T. (2013) "Discovery of an endosymbiotic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium UCYN-A in Braarudosphaera bigelowii (Prymnesiophyceae)". PLoS One, 8(12): e81749. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081749.