Foraminifera of Lakshadweep Archipelago, Arabian Sea

Ocean acidification is a threat for coral reefs and shelled protists like foraminifera. A study on distribution of foraminifera in the intertidal regions of Lakshadweep Archipelago, Arabian Sea was carried out. Agatti, Amini Bangaram, Kadmat, Parali Ι and Tinnakkara Islands of Lakshadweep were the six sites selected for the study. A total of 29 species belonging to 17 genera, 14 families and four sub-orders of foraminifera were identified. Nine species were unique to Lakshadweep islands. The distribution of foraminifera in relation to sediment characteristics was assessed. The diversity and morphology of Lakshadweep foraminifera was compared to that of the foraminifera of the West and East coast of India in which 37.5 % of foraminifera occurring in the lagoons of Lakshadweep Islands studied here are exclusive. The foraminifera of the Archipelago are 1.5 times larger in size compared to that found in Indian coast. Miliolina and Rotaliina were the predominant suborders in both abundance and species richness. Marginopora vertabralis, Calcarina calcar, Amphistegina madagascariensis¸ Amphistegina radiata and Amphistegina lessoni were the abundant species. Sediment characteristics like organic matter, calcium carbonate and sediment texture were analysed and were found to correlate significantly with abundance and species richness of total and live foraminiferal populations of study sites.