Quinqueloculina

Mamo, Briony L., 2016, Benthic Foraminifera from the Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4215 (1), pp. 1-123 : 51

Quinqueloculina sp. 6 ( Fig. 11 :8, 9)

Description. Quinqueloculine, test almost twice as long as wide. Chambers are distinctly compressed with pinched periphery creating a thin and warped cross-sectional view. Test walls possess weak, irregular, anastomising costae. Aperture narrow and terminal atop a slender neck. Dentition unknown.

Remarks. This species closely resembles Quinqueloculina undosa Kärrer 1867 described by Cushman (1924) from Samoa, but the original illustrations of Q. undosa show a much broader test and no neck as opposed to the specimens illustrated by Cushman (1924) and those from the CG, which possess a distinctly long and thin test with a slender neck ( Fig. 11 :8, 9). Loeblich & Tappan (1994, pl. 82, figs 1–6) illustrated identical specimens under the name Q. sulcata from the Sahul Shelf and Timor Sea . Compared to the original illustrations by d’Orbigny ( Fornasini 1900) the CG specimens are very similar especially in regards to the slender nature of the test, long, slender neck and small aperture. However, the distinct crenulated carina does not appear as pronounced. Parker (2009, figs 219a–h, 220a–g) illustrated specimens from the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, that he synonymised with Loeblich & Tappan’s (1994) specimens and unfigured specimens assigned to Q. sulcata by Haig (1997). However, they were left in open nomenclature ( Quinqueloculina sp. 9) due to the uncertain identity of Q. sulcata (e.g. Loeblich & Tappan [1994] synonymised this species under four different names) and the lack of publication in any recent taxonomic monographs from its type area of the Red Sea (e.g. Hottinger et al. 1993). Debenay (2012) similarly commented on the lack of clarity regarding this species and only tentatively assigned his New Caleondian specimens from the Bay of Prony as Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. sulcata . Due to this uncertainty, lack of abundance and unsure dentition, CG specimens have been left in open nomenclature.

Distribution within study area. This species was only found at site 2 along Transect 3 across Heron Reef flat.

Figures

FIGURE 11. (Unless otherwise specified all scale bars = 100 µm). 1 – 2. Quinqueloculina sp. 3, QM # G 465918 from WL 1. 1. Lateral view. 2. Oral view. 3 – 5. Quinqueloculina sp. 4, QM # G 465831 from OTI 39. 3. Lateral view. 4. Oral view. 5. Peripheral view. 6 – 7. Quinqueloculina sp. 5, QM # G 465782 from ST / HW 2. 6. Lateral view, scale bar = 200 µm. 7. Oral view, scale bar = 200 µm. 8 – 9. Quinqueloculina sp. 6, QM # G 465910 from T 3 – 2. 8. Lateral view. 9. Peripheral view. 10 – 11. Quinqueloculina sp. 7, QM # G 465951 from S 8. 10. Lateral view, scale bar = 500 µm. 11. Close-up lateral view, scale bar = 50 µm. 12 – 15. Miliolinella circularis (Bornemann, 1855). 12 – 13. QM # G 465898 from ST / HW 10, lateral (12) and oral (13) views. 14 – 15. QM # G 465980 from OTI 54, lateral (14) and oral (15) views. 16 – 17. Miliolinella sp. 1, QM # G 465944 from OTI 20. 16. Lateral view. 17. Oral view. 18 – 20. Miliolinella sp. 2, QM # G 465901 from ST / HW 10. 18. Lateral view. 19. Lateral view. 20. Oral view.