Abstract
Abstract. Applications of fossil shells of planktonic foraminifera to decipher past environmental change and plankton evolution require a robust operational taxonomy. In this respect, extant planktonic foraminifera provide an opportunity for benchmarking the dominantly morphological species concepts and classification of the group by considering ecological, physiological and genetic characters. Although the basic framework of the taxonomy of extant planktonic foraminifera has been stable for half a century, many details have changed, not the least in light of genetic evidence. In this contribution, we review the current taxonomy of living planktonic foraminifera, presenting a comprehensive standard that emerged from the meetings and consultations of the SCOR/IGBP Working Group 138 “Planktonic foraminifera and ocean changes”. We present a comprehensive annotated list of 50 species and subspecies recognized among living planktonic foraminifera and evaluate their generic and suprageneric classification. As a result, we recommend replacing the commonly used names Globorotalia menardii by G. cultrata and Globorotalia theyeri by G. eastropacia, recognize Globorotaloides oveyi as a neglected but valid living species, and propose transferring the three extant species previously assigned to Tenuitella into a separate genus, Tenuitellita. We review the status of types and designate lectotypes for Globoturborotalita rubescens and Globigerinita uvula. We further provide an annotated list of synonyms and other names that have been applied previously to living planktonic foraminifera and outline the reasons for their exclusion. Finally, we provide recommendations on how the presented classification scheme should be used in operational taxonomy for the benefit of producing replicable and interoperable census counts.
Highlights
Planktonic foraminifera are marine protists with ornate calcite shells, which have inhabited upper ocean waters since the Jurassic
Since the seasonal flux and the calcification depth differ among species, the application of fossil shells of planktonic foraminifera to decipher past environmental change requires species-specific analyses (Jonkers and Kucera, 2017) and is contingent on the existence of robust operational taxonomy
We review the current taxonomy of living planktonic foraminifera, with the aim to introduce the comprehensive standard that emerged from the meetings and consultations of the SCOR Working Group 138 “Planktonic foraminifera and ocean changes” (Ganssen and Kucera, 2012)
Summary
Planktonic foraminifera are marine protists with ornate calcite shells, which have inhabited upper ocean waters since the Jurassic. Kucera: Taxonomic review of living planktonic foraminifera advances in molecular genetics provided an opportunity to benchmark the classical morphological species concept by analyses of DNA sequence divergence. This new and independent information had two consequences for taxonomy. It largely confirmed the choice and interpretation of traits used in species concepts based solely on shell morphology, resulting only in minor amendments (Darling et al, 2006; Aurahs et al, 2011; Weiner et al, 2015; Morard et al, 2019a) It led to the discovery of extensive genetic diversity within most morphologically defined species, which likely signifies the presence of biological (reproductively isolated) species that are morphologically similar or even indistinguishable, i.e. cryptic species (Darling and Wade, 2008). Our primary intention is to explain the current concepts and (supra-)generic assignment of extant species, justifying the retention or rejection of various taxa and names for better understanding of the diversity of the group through time
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