First findings of soft-walled monothalamous foraminifera and gromiids in the meiobenthic communities of the South China Sea
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Abstract
Foraminifera, as a group of marine protozoa, play an important role in marine ecosystems. The information about hard-shelled foraminifera from the Spratly Islands was reported in results of geological surveys. The data on soft-walled foraminifera in the Spratly Islands in particular, and in the South China Sea (BiểnĐông in vietnamese), is still absent. This study aims to provide the first data on soft-walled foraminifera and gromiids in this archipelago. We researched also taxonomical diversity of meiobenthos communities in bottom sediments and periphyton, in aquatic habitats of the Truong Sa archipelago (in the South China Sea, Vietnam). Samples were collected during the voyage in the Spratly Islands in April 2022 at eight stations on the depth range 6 – 20 m using SCUBA. Representatives of 20 high level taxa (phylum, class, order) were recorded in the composition of meiobenthos communities of periphyton and bottom sediments in the studied area. Among the protozoan hydrobionts, Ciliophora Doflein, 1901, Foraminifera d'Orbigny, 1826 (hard-shelled and soft-walled) and Gromiidea Cavalier-Smith, 2003 were noted. Special attention is focused on protozoa, previously unknown for the waters of the Vietnamese region Foraminifera (monothalamous, soft-walled) and Cercozoa (Gromiidea). The first ones were recorded in periphyton at two stations, the second ones – at seven stations in periphyton and at two stations in coral sand. We identified three species of soft-walled foraminifera, two of which are tentatively assigned to the genera Bowseria Sinniger et al., 2008 and Bathyallogromia Gooday et al., 2004. Gromiids are represented by nine morphotypes. Brief description of each morphotype is presented.