Three new records of recent benthic Foraminifera from Korea

Abstract

Foraminifera are protists that inhabit diverse marine environments and show high abundance and diversity. However, previous studies on foraminifera in Korea mostly focused on geological and paleoecological fields and were conducted in a limited area. Therefore, there is a high possibility for discovering new and unrecorded species. Here we describe three newly recorded foraminiferal species from the southwestern part of Jeju Island during a survey on the meiofaunal community, which belongs to three different genera (Ammobaculites, Cylindroclavulina, Saracenaria), three families (Lituolidae, Vaginulinidae, Valvulinidae), and three orders (Lituolida, Textulariida, Vaginulinida): Ammobaculites formosensis Nakamura, 1937, Cylindroclavulina bradyi (Cushman, 1911), and Saracenaria hannoverana (Franke, 1936). These species have been reported from Chinese region in the East China Sea, however this is the first report from Korean waters. Particularly, Cylindroclavulina bradyi is the first report of the genus Cylindroclavulina in Korean water. The present study supports the diversity of foraminiferal species in Korea, and the necessity of further surveys in Korean waters.