| A series of sixteen multicores were taken along a depth transects (360-2969 m) across the Southern California Bight oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) to investigate the ecology of living (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in bottom water at sample sites varied from 0.47mL/L to 3.63mL/L. Bathygraphic highs were targeted in an effort to sample habitats with coarse sediments. Mean grain size varied from 131mum (gravelly sand) to 830mum (coarse sand with fine gravel). Dominant taxa in the >150mum size fraction assemblages from 0-2cm included Uvigerina peregrina, Uvigerina auberiana, Cassidulina laevigata, Hoeglundina elegans, and Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi. Dominant taxa in the 63-150 mum size fraction assemblages from 0-1cm included Uvigerina auberiana, Cassidulina carinata, and Bolivina spissa. Sediment-dwelling infaunal taxa, such as Uvigerina and Bolivina, traditionally associated with the supersaturated, unconsolidated mud, characteristic of OMZ habitats, are also able to live in coarse-grained sediment. Vertical distribution patterns (0-2cm) were consistent with those of conspecifics reported elsewhere, and reconfirm that Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, Hanzawaia nipponica, and Hoeglundina elegans are epifaunal, living near or above the sediment-water interface. Despite oxygen-poor conditions, epifaunal taxa comprised as much as 36% of the stained population at the five sites with the coarsest mean grain size. The presence of appreciable densities of epifaunal taxa in oxygen-poor habitats indicates that these species can thrive in lower oxygen than previously thought. We suggest that in environments with bottom water dissolved oxygen levels above their lowest requirements, these epifaunal taxa, including C. wuellerstorfi, prefer coarser grained habitats that allow them to remain at or above the sediment-water interface. These results dispel the notion that abundant epifaunal foraminifera necessarily indicate well-oxygenated conditions, and strongly challenge methods that use epifaunal indicator taxa or groups of taxa to assess oxygen concentrations in deep water environments. |
