Variability of foraminifera associations in seagrass ecosystems in shallow water during winter (Kerkennah – Southern Tunisian coasts)

Abstract

This study intends to reliably estimate the general status of the benthic and the epiphytic foraminifera community related to each studied seagrass ecosystem (Posidonia oceanica,Cymodocea nodosaandHalophila stipulacea) distributed in different shallow sites in the coastal archipelago of Kerkennah (Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia) during winter. We were able to first sort and subsequently identify some characteristics conditioning their behaviour. Twenty-four species of foraminifera were encountered. Among them, three epiphytic species identified on these seagrass leaves had a much lower abundance than those in the sediment. We were interested in highlighting the foraminiferal community related toHalophila stipulacea, since this seagrass species is newly introduced into the Mediterranean sea. Thanks to the statistical study, we were able to identify the favourable habitat for epiphytic and benthic foraminifera among the three seagrass ecosystems. A correlation between the identified foraminifera species and some environmental parameters was addressed using a variety of software.

Species composition and habitat preferences of benthic ostracod and foraminifera in seagrass and non-seagrass systems within a tropical estuary

“…Elphidium (Elphididae) and Ammonia (Rotaliidae) were the most numerically abundant taxa (2533 individuals and 2239 individuals, respectively) (Supplementary Material Table S2 and S3). In comparison, in seagrass meadows along the Tunisian coast, the most diverse benthic assemblages of foraminifera recorded a Shannon–Weaver index, H ′, of 3.33 (Trabelsi et al ., 2018); we observed a maximum H ′ of 3.60 at Tanjung Adang Shoal. For non-seagrass areas, H ′ for foraminifera at Petchaburi, Thailand, ranged between 0.59 and 2.84, and H ′ values of 0.18–2.79 were recorded at Kupang Bay, Indonesia (Toruan et al ., 2017).…”

“…Given the good preservation potential of their tests, ostracods and foraminifera contribute calcium carbonate as substrate within the sediment (Brasier, 1975). However, environmental and anthropogenic factors such as seawater temperature, salinity, water depth, dissolved oxygen and pH that structure the ecosystem create pressures that cause some benthic assemblages to not thrive, whereas other more resistant taxa impose opportunistic life strategies that invariably exclude the less competitive and more sensitive species (Trabelsi et al ., 2018).…”

The Endemic Marine Fish Fauna From the Eastern Paratethys Reconstructed From Otoliths From the Miocene (Middle Sarmatian S.L.; Bessarabian) of Jurkine (Kerch Peninsula, Crimea)

“…In a study on the mollusk fauna of the Sarmatian endemic system, Lukeneder et al (2011) also investigated mollusks from the Bessarabian of from the middle part of the Bessarabian (Vasylivkian regional horizon, Kurortne Formation) consists of shallow-water taxa (Quinqueloculina, Dogielina, Meandroloculina, Elphidium, and Porosononion), which indicate a photic zone of a middle to inner shelf (upper sublittoral zone after Hedgpeth 1957 andLonghurst 2007) resistant to salinity fluctuations (after Murray 2006; and https://paleobiodb.org; http://www.fossilworks.org). The presence of the herbivorous species Quinqueloculina, Elphidium, and nonionids in this association indicate a seagrass ecosystem in this part of the sea (e.g., Murray 2006;Trabelsi et al 2017). Furthermore, the predominance of miliolid representatives among epifaunal species (Quinqueloculina, Dogielina, Meandroloculina, Sarmatiella) with large, thick-walled tests (oxic indicators) (Table 3) indicate a high oxygen content in the bottom water (Kaiho 1994(Kaiho , 1999.…”

Foraminiferal biotopes in a shallow continental shelf environment: Esperance Bay (southwestern Australia)

“…In fact, foraminifera constitute the most diverse and widespread group of shelled microorganisms in modern oceans (e.g., Debenay et al, 1996;Murray, 2006), they have relatively short life-cycles and many specimens can be retrieved from a relatively small sediment sample. In addition, benthic foraminifera can indicate both short-and long-term changes in most marine and transitional environments because their life-cycle is related to several parameters such as sediment texture (Buosi et al, 2013a,b;Celia Magno et al, 2012), seabed morphology (Corbí et al, 2016;Schröder-Adams et al, 2008), bathymetry (Avnaim-Katav et al, 2015;García-Sanz et al, 2018), water currents (Buosi et al, 2012;Schönfeld, 2002a,b), seagrass ecosystem (Frezza et al, 2011;Mateu-Vicens et al, 2014;Trabelsi et al, 2018), temperature (Lei et al, 2019;Titelboim et al, 2019), organic content (Armynot du Châtelet et al, 2009;Di Bella et al, 2019;Martins et al, 2015), dissolved oxygen, salinity, light (Charrieau et al, 2018;Lee et al, 2016a;LeKieffre et al, 2017), and pollutants (e.g., Ferraro et al, 2006;Schintu et al, 2016). Reasons for the growing interest in these studies are multiples but are mainly linked to two principal aspects: data on modern distributions allow the interpretation of past environments and provide baseline information for monitoring of future environmental changes, induced by natural or anthropogenic forcing (Quilty and Hosie, 2006).…”