US EPA

7881278 

Journal Article 

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN TEST MORPHOLOGY, CRUSHING STRENGTH, AND HABITAT IN AMPHISTEGINA-GIBBOSA, ARCHAIAS-ANGULATUS, AND LAEVIPENEROPLIS-PROTEUS FROM BERMUDA 

Wetmore, KL; Plotnick, RE 

1992 

Yes 

Journal of Foraminiferal Research
ISSN: 0096-1191 

22 

1 

1-12 

WOS:A1992HE10100001 

We measured resistance of crushing of three species of larger benthic foraminifera from Bermuda: Archaias angulatus, Amphistegina gibbosa, and Laevipeneroplis proteus. Tests of living individuals collected from a high-energy exposed reef were markedly harder to crush than similar-sized tests of living individuals of the same and other species from a low-energy sheltered seagrass flat. This correlation shows that even though these epibiontic species live on substrates such as seagrasses and coral rubble rather than in the sediment, test strength is important for survival as it is in smaller sediment-dwelling foraminifera. The increase in test strength in high-energy environments may be a response to the likelihood of removal from substrates by wave and current action. Test weight differed slightly between populations from the two environments, but probably not enough to account for the observed difference in resistance to crushing. Differences in test weight between species were minor despite major differences in test morphology and wall microstructure.