A new monothalamous foraminiferan from 1000 to 6300m water depth in the Weddell Sea: morphological and molecular characterisation

• publication
• 01-07-2004

Andrew J. Gooday, Maria Holzmann, Jackie Guiard, Nils Cornelius, Jan Pawlowski. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, Volume 51, Issues 14–16, 2004, Pages 1603-1616, ISSN 0967-0645, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2004.06.025

We describe Bathyallogromia weddellensis gen. & sp. nov., a deep-water, monothalamous foraminiferan from bathyal and abyssal sites in the western Weddell Sea. The species is characterised by a delicate, almost spherical, organic-walled test, a low, broad projecting apertural region, and light grey or greenish cytoplasm containing mineral grains and other inclusions. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences, indicate that Bathyallogromia is an independent lineage branching within a clade of monothalamous foraminiferans, which also includes such genera as Saccammina, Gloiogullmia, Cylindrogullmia, Rhabdammina, Toxisarcon and Pilulina (?). Lack of significant genetic differences between specimens collected at depths ranging from 1000 to 6300m suggests that B. weddellensis is adapted to conditions that span a broad bathymetric range.

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