Recent Deep-Sea Agglutinated Foraminifera: A Brief Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT.Benthic foraminifera are important members of the deep-sea biota and sometimes are the dominant organisms in the meiofaunal and macrofaunal size ranges and in hard substrate communities. Agglutinated species are abundant and include a rich diversity of undescribed taxa, many of them belonging to soft-bodied groups, e.g. the Komokiacea. These delicate forms are particularly important in tranquil, central oceanic regions below the carbonate compensation depth, where calcareous species are rare. Large robust astrorhizaceans, on the other hand, are more abundant near the continental margins. Agglutinated foraminifera occupy infaunal, epifaunal and elevated microhabitats in the deep-sea. They consume a wide range of other organisms and, in turn, are ingested in large numbers by deposit-feeding megafauna and specialist predators. Their tests contribute to the structure of the benthic environment while the burrowing activities of smaller specimens may modify the sedimentary fabric. Thus, in a variety of ways, agglutinated foraminifera must playa major ecological role in the ocean-floor communities.

A deep-sea agglutinated foraminifer tube constructed with planktonic foraminifer shells of a single species

“…Tube-like agglutinated foraminifera that use planktonic foraminifer shells in their construction are common in bathyal and abyssal environments worldwide, where they live either as suspension or deposit feeders (Gooday, 1990). Fragments are difficult to assign to genus level if the proloculus is absent and the branching pattern unclear, as is the case with the pieces described here.…”

“…2). Although polychaetes, nematodes, and crustaceans are all known to construct agglutinated tubes (Gooday, 1990;Finger et al, 2008), the specimens described here can be securely identified as a foraminifer because of the small size and mode of construction which is similar to other agglutinated foraminifera including Rhizammina from the same sample. As in Rhizammina (see Fig.…”

“…Agglutinated foraminifera are unicellular organisms that construct their shells from sedimentary grains gathered from the sea-floor environment and cement them together to form what are sometimes intricate three-dimensional constructions (Brady, 1879;Gooday, 1990). To do this they must select, orientate and secure the grains in ways that are, at present, poorly understood (Allen et al, 1988;Hemleben and Kaminski, 1990;Makled and Langer, 2010;Rothe et al, 2011).…”

Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of Late Cretaceous Abyssal Agglutinated Foraminifers from the Western Pacific Ocean (Deep Sea Drilling Project Holes 196A and 198A and Ocean Drilling Program Holes 800A and 801A)

“…Small, abyssal, thin-walled smooth multichambered morphotypes-infaunal detrital/bacterial scavengers with the ability to survive under extreme oligotrophic conditions by such mechanisms as metabolizing protoplasm during resting phases or bacterial encystment (Gooday, 1990).…”

The first record of Bacillariophyta imprints on shells of foraminifera Spiroplectammina Cushman (Lower Oligocene of the Southern Ukraine)

“…строят стенку из спикул губок Koho, 2008;Maldonado et al, 2013). Также известны случаи ее построения исключительно из кокколитофорид (нижний баррем Восточной Англии (Thomsen, Rasmussen, 2008), маастрихт Центральной Пацифики или раковин планктонных фораминифер (Gooday, Smart, 2000;Maldonado et al, 2013).…”