The distribution of benthic foraminifera in Cladocora caespitosa coral banks of the Veliko Jezero sediments (Mljet National Park, eastern Adriatic Sea)

Abstract

This paper compares distributional data of benthic foraminifera from surface sediments that were collected in 2003 and 2012 from Cladocora caespitosa coral banks in Veliko Jezero (Mljet National Park, eastern Adriatic Sea). Species composition and test preservation of benthic foraminifera provide information on the depositional history of shallow-water sediments, particularly on the source of the displaced foraminiferal tests. Two foraminiferal assemblages were identified. Peneroplids (Peneroplis pertusus and Penereplis planatus) and Elphidium crispum dominate in modern foraminiferal assemblages collected in 2012, whereas samples collected almost ten years earlier are characterized by frequent occurrences of Rosalina bradyi and Quinqueloculina sp. Our quantitative reconstruction revealed that symbiont-bearing peneroplids, foraminifera that are often associated with reef building corals, became dominant constituents over several years in this area. Taphonomic signatures of the assemblages are correlated to taxonomic units and granulometric properties of substrate sediments, indicating that taphonomic processes are crucial in defining the composition of assemblages.