Scottish researchers working a kilometre beneath the surface of the North Atlantic have recovered what they believe to be the largest single-celled organism ever seen. The sponge-like protozoan, a xenophyophore of the species Syringammina fragilissima, is 10 centimetres in diameter and was brought to the surface during a research trip near Rockall in July by the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban.

As its name suggests, S. fragilissima is extremely delicate and disintegrates if vibrated. The recovered specimen is being examined by a xenophyophore expert, Andrew Gooday of the Southampton Oceanography Centre. “There are lots of these creatures in Scottish waters,” he says.