Benthic foraminifera assemblages of the Aiguillon cove

Data come from the PhD thesis of Eric Armynot du Châtelet
from the laboratory "Recent and Fossil Bio-Indicators" (BIAF) formely "Laboratoire Bio-indicateurs Actuels et Fossiles des Environnements Côtiers et Paraliques" (BAFECP) at the University of Angers, with financial supports of the "Conseil Général de Vendée"

  • Foraminifera (class Foraminifera, phylum Granuloreticulata) are amongst the more abundant and most conspicuous protozoa in most marine and brackish water habitats. Many species have durable shells (tests), which are an important component of marine and paralic sediments (Lee et al. 2000). Because foraminifers have a short life cycle, they react quickly and can be used as an early warning indicator of environmental disturbance, as defined by Kramer and Botterweg (1991). The occurrence of proxy species give an instantaneous picture of the ecological conditions. Foraminifera are easy to collect, and are often found in high-density populations, providing an adequate statistical base (even in small volume samples), they are then well adapted for environmental monitoring (Scott, 2001).


    General location map of the Aiguillon cove

Study site & methods: some element of the treatment methods had been listed here.

Taxonomy: a taxonomic list had been constructed of the all observed benthic foraminifera species within the cove (living and dead (†). The list had been arranged by Suborder, Superfamily, Family, Subfamily and Genera and species, according to the Loeblich and Tappan classification (1988). The list had been also arranged in six plate grouping SEM photographs of most of the species.

Geographic information: the Aiguillon is a 4.900 ha cove of the Atlantic coast of France (46°17'N, 1°10'W). The cove is a 5km-wide sediment settling basin (Verger, 1968), delimited from the open sea by two spits, the Pointe de l’Aiguillon in the west and the Pointe Saint-Clément in the east. The seven most important species of foraminifera are here listed and geographically descibed.

History: The early observation of foraminifera go back to the past many years before J.C. This is Alcide d'Orbigny, who the first attempted to construct the first classification…

Reference list: All cited references and reference dealing with benthic foraminifera living within the cove are listed here.