Introduction
Xenophyophores are giant deepsea protists that build agglutinated tests ranging in maximum dimension from 1cm to more than 20cm. Although the first species were described in the late 1800s,and the group was established as a distinct taxon at the beginning of the 20th century (Schultze,1907), the importance and widespread occurrence of xenophyophores in the deepsea was not appreciated until the publication of the comprehensive monograph of Tendal (1972).
