A record on benthic foraminiferal abundance and distribution in Gosthani estuary, Bheemunipatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

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Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences Vol. 41(5), October 2012, pp. 425-429 A record on benthic foraminiferal abundance and distribution in Gosthani estuary, Bheemunipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. D.

in] Received 21 February 2011; revised 26 August 2011 A total of 482 Benthic foraminifera belonging to 23 species have been identified in the sediment samples of Gosthani estuary.

Q-mode cluster analysis revealed that the foraminifera could be grouped into 6 clusters.

1 Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences Vol. 41(5), October 2012, pp A record on benthic foraminiferal abundance and distribution in Gosthani estuary, Bheemunipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. D. Naresh Kumar, B. Ganesh, T. Karuna karudu & M. Jagannadha Rao Delta Studies Institute, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam , India [ mjrao_isa@yahoo.co.in] Received 21 February 2011; revised 26 August 2011 A total of 482 Benthic foraminifera belonging to 23 species have been identified in the sediment samples of Gosthani estuary. The Ammonia beccarii, Anomalina sp., Asterorotalia dentata, Ammonia tepida, Quinquloculina seminulum, Asterorotalia trispinosa, and Elphidium crispum are abundant. Anomalina sp., represent the shelf environment and it is a good indication of flooding or marine water incursion into the estuary. Q-mode cluster analysis revealed that the foraminifera could be grouped into 6 clusters. Occurrence and distribution of foraminiferal assemblages studied in the Gosthani estuary sediments, infers that these sediments were deposited in marine environment. [Keywords: Gosthani estuary, Benthic foraminifera, Q-mode cluster analysis, Bay of Bengal] Introduction The East coast of India is marked by major rivers, streams and drainage networks draining the hinterland and joining the Bay of Bengal forming varied sedimentary environments 1-9. Gosthani river originates in Ananthagiri hills of Eastern Ghats and flows down to North East to a distance of 120 km, and debouches into the Bay of Bengal near Bheemunipatnam ( N E.) forming an estuary 10. Present study consists the benthic foraminiferal abundance and distribution in Gosthani estuary have been studied. The main focus of the work is on the application of Q-mode cluster analysis. This is to understand the foraminiferal distribution in terms of clusters and to establish the applicability of this tool in accessing statistical pattern of distribution and abundance of species. Materials and Methods Representative sediment samples have been collected from fifteen stations in the Gosthani River estuary (Figure.1). The augur has been manually pushed into the sediment column by rotating up to a depth of 2-3 feet below water column. The sample in the barrel is collected and set aside, the process is repeated two or three times at each station, until required quantity of bulk sediment sample is collected. Bulk sample thoroughly mixed and further sampled to collect required quantity, for foraminiferal studies. The samples have been processed for the foraminifera. A 10 gm sample was taken and soaked in water for a while and was washed over 63µm sieve Fig.1 Location Map and sample station locations.

2 426 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 41, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2012 with distilled water and dried in an oven at 60 C. CCl 4 is added at room temperature and the floated foraminifera were picked up using a stereomicroscope (Lieca 5M6). Systematic scheme has been followed for identification and classification of foraminiferal genera Q-mode cluster analysis has been used to determine the natural groupings (clusters) among the foraminfera identified, which has been used widely in earlier studies This statistical method typically produces dendrograms, which display clusters of samples that are similar. The similarities are on the basis of composition (Q-mode) 17. Results and Discussion To have an idea on occurrence of common species of the present study reported in other sedimentary environments from literature, Table 1 is given. 1. Godavari River Estuary 1 2. Krishna River Estuary 1 3. Araniar River Estuary 4 4. Chilka lake 2 5. Palk strait Cochin Estuary Present study The observations from Q-mode Cluster Fig 2 analysis indicate that Cluster IV represents the stations 3, 1, 4, 10, and station 15 in the sequence of increasing abundance of Ammonia beccarii, Ammonia tepida, Quinquloculina seminulum, Triloculina tricarinata, Discorbinella montereyensis and Quinqueloculina parkeri shows increasing abundance from station 1- station 15. Distribution of different foraminiferal species in the study area has been Table.1 Common species of present study reported in literature. S.No Species Names Ammonia becarii 2. Ammonia tepida 3. Elphidium crispum 4. Rosalina globularis, 5. Quinquloculina seminulum 6. Asterorotalia trispinosa Table: 2 Distribution of Foraminifera in different stations. (Per 10 gram of samples) S.NO SPECIES NAMES ST.1 ST.2 ST.3 ST.4 ST.5 ST.6 ST.7 ST.8 ST.9 ST.10 ST.11 ST.12 ST.13 ST.14 ST Ammonia beccarii Anomalina sp Ammonia tepida Triloculina tricarinata Elphidium crispum Elphidium craticulatam 3 7. Asterorotalia dentata Quinquloculina seminulum Asterorotalia trispinosa Psuedorotalia scartinata Broken shell Asterorotalia multispinosa Haynesina germanica Elphidium sp Psuedononina atlantica Discorbinella montereyensis Rosalina Globuloris Legena sp Globigerina bulloides Nonioniodes grateloupi Bolivinellina pescicula Bolivina striatulum Globigerinoides ruber Quinqueloculina parkeri 2 2 TOTAL

3 KUMAR et al: A RECORD ON BENTHIC FORAMINIFERAL ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION 427 Table: 3 Foraminifera and their Order of Abundance. Species names Abundance percentage Ammonia beccarii Asterorotalia dentata Ammonia tepida Quinquloculina seminulum Haynesina germanica Triloculina tricarinata Psuedononina atlantica Bolivinellina pescicula Asterorotalia trispinosa Elphidium crispum Bolivina striatulum Fig.2 Q-mode cluster analysis identifies Six Clusters associations in the Gosthani Estuary. shown in Table 2, and out of the abundance of different species in all 15 stations the dominance in percentage has been indicated in the Table 3. Cluster-I comprises stations 7, 13 and station 14, dominant species are Asterorotalia dentata, Ammonia tepida, Psuedononina atlantica and Quinquloculina seminulum. Cluster-II covers sample locations of station 8 and station 2, species are Ammonia beccarii, Nonioniodes grateloupi, Asterorotalia trispinosa, Anomalina sp., and Asterorotalia dentata. Cluster-III comprises station 9 and station 11, the dominant species are Rosalina globuloris, Asterorotalia dentata, Haynesina germanica, Quinquloculina seminulum. Cluster V comprises station 5 the dominant species are Ammonia beccarii, Ammonia tepida and Asterorotalia dentata. Cluster VI comprises station 6 and station 12, the species represented are Psuedorotalia scartinata, Legena sp. Cluster IV and Cluster II Stations have high abundance of species. Cluster I, Cluster III and Cluster V Stations have medium abundance of species, Cluster VI is less abundant in species. Benthic foraminiferal species are abundant in Cluster IV and Cluster- II, which signify low energetic conditions and characterized by brackish to marine environments. Planktonic species like Globigerina bulloides, Globigerinoides ruber and Lagena sp., has been observed to occur in Anomalina sp Rosalina Globuloris Asterorotalia multispinosa Elphidium sp Globigerinoides ruber Quinqueloculina parkeri Elphidium craticulatam Globigerina bulloides Nonioniodes grateloupi Psuedorotalia scartinata Discorbinella montereyensis Legena sp Total stations Viz., 1, 2, 3, 4, and station 10, however they are of less significance. Foraminiferal Test Based on the nature of the test foraminifera are sub-divided into 3 groups arenaceous, porcelaneous and hyaline. Porcelanceous tests for the family Hauerinidae and planktonic forms fall into the hyaline group. It is observed in this study those porcelaneous tests are relatively high in the outer channel as compared with the lagoon 2. Planktonic foraminifera Three species of planktonic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides, Globigerinoides ruber and Lagena sp. (Plate 1) have been found in the sediment samples of the Gosthani river estuary. Their presence in the estuary suggests their transportation through inflow of sea water from the Bay of Bengal by tidal currents 2.

Asterorotalia multispinosa 9. Globigerina bulloides 2a.

Quinqueloculina parkeri apertural view. 11. Elphidium craticulatam 3. Bolivina striatulum 12a.

Ammonia beccarii Umbilical side 4b. Psuedorotalia scartinata side view 13.

4 428 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 41, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2012 PLATE: 1 The reported foraminiferal species of present study; PLATE: 1 1. Asterorotalia multispinosa 9. Globigerina bulloides 2a. Quinqueloculina parkeri General view 4 chamber side 10. Elphidium crispum 2b. Quinqueloculina parkeri apertural view. 11. Elphidium craticulatam 3. Bolivina striatulum 12a. Ammonia beccarii Spiral side 4a. Psuedorotalia scartinata General view 12b. Ammonia beccarii Umbilical side 4b. Psuedorotalia scartinata side view 13. Asterorotalia trispinosa 5. Psuedononina atlantica 14. Asterorotalia dentata 6. Globigerinoides rubber 15a. Discorbinella montereyensis spiral view 7. Ammonia tepida Umbilical side 15b. Discorbinella montereyensis dorsal view 8. Ammonia tepida Spiral view 16. Legena sp.,

5 KUMAR et al: A RECORD ON BENTHIC FORAMINIFERAL ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION 429 Ecological implications of foraminiferal distribution A total number of 15 sampling stations have been fixed (Fig.1). Some of the interesting observations as for as the total distribution of foraminifera include that. The salinity played major role in controlling the distribution of these species. This is very cleared and indicated by the abundance of different species as per the salinity of the environment. Ammonia beccarii, Anomalina sp., Ammonia dentate, Ammonia tepida, Quinqueloculina seminulum and Elphidium crispum are abundant forms in the Gosthani estuary which indicates then high tolerance levels in the estuarine environment. Discorbinella montereyensis, Globigerina bulloides Q. parkeri, and Asterorotalia trispinosa in species are less in abundance perhaps due low salinity conditions. Conclusion This study indicates that the Gosthani estuary environment is in general supporting the Benthic foraminiferal species namely Ammonia beccarii, Asterorotalia dentata, Ammonia tepida, Quinquloculina seminulum, Haynesina germanica, Bolivinellina pescicula, Psuedononina atlantica, Triloculina tricarinata which are of high abundance the species are and the species abundance is comparable with other estuaries of similar climatic condition. Species have tolerance for salinity variations and surviving successfully in the estuarine environment, the most abundant foraminfera representing cluster IV and cluster II indicate forams which can survive in low energy conditions. Palnktonic forams though of less significance, observed to occur in the estuary due to inflow from tidal currents. The occurrence of Anomalina sp., which is generally confined to shelf conditions, perhaps indicates its transportation from shelf conditions during stormy weather 3. References 1 Narappa, K.V., Subba Rao, M. and Rao. Comparison of foraminiferal assemblages from Godavari and Krishna river estuaries, Indian J. Marine Sci., 1982, 11, Kameshwara Rao, K., Jayalakshmy, K.V., Venugopal, P., Gopalakrishnan, T. C. and Rajagopal, M. D. Foraminifera from the Chilka Lake on the east coast of India. J. mar. biol. Ass. India, 2000, 42 (1&2), Nageswara Rao, J. Studies on foraminifera from the Gosthani estuary and the Visakhapatnam shelf sediments, east coast of India, Ph.D. thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India Reddy, A. N. and Reddy, K. R., Recent benthonic Foraminifera from the Araniar river estuary, Tamil Nadu. Indian J. Marine Sci., 1982, 11, Chandrasekhara Rao, D., Subba Rao, M., Kaladhar, R. and Naidu, T.Y., Living foraminifera associated with Algae from rock pools near visakhapatnam, East coast of India. Indian J. Marine Sci, 1982, 11, Kaladhar, R., Recent foraminiferida from the Balacheruvu streams, Tandava river estuary, and Rishikonda rock pools, east coast of India Ph.D. thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India Jayaraju, N., Suryakumar, I., Srinivas, K. and Reddy, K.R. Recent Benthic Foraminifera Genera from Pulicat Lake, East Coast of India: An Appraisal Using Factor Analysis. Jour.Geol.Soc.India, 1998, 51, Kathal, P. K. and Bhalla, S.N., A note on Recent foraminifera from littoral zone along East Coast of India, Bulletin, Indian Geologists Association, Chandigarh, India, 1996, 29, Subba Rao, M., Vedanatam, D. and Nageswara Rao, S., Distribution and ecology of benthic foraminifera in the sediments of Visakhapatnam shelf, East Coast of India. Palaeogeography, Palaeochimatology, Palaeocology, 1979, 27, Dhanalakshmi, S., Khadar, M.T.A. and Varadarajulu, R., On the behavior of the Gosthani River mouth. Jour. Inst. Engineers (India), 1978, 58, Loeblich, A. R. Jr. and Tappan, H., Foraminiferal genera and their classification. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, Boltovskoy, E. and Wright, R. Recent foraminifera, Dr. W. Junk K B V, Publishers, The Hague, Mello, J. E. and Buzas, M. A. An application of Cluster analysis as a method of determining biofacies. Journal of Paleontology, 1968, 42, Schaffer, C.T. and Scott, D. B., Multidisciplinary environment analysis of a Coastal area: Report of Activities, pt. C, Geological Survey of Canada, paper 1976, 76, Nagendra, R., Kamalak Kannan, B. V., Sajith, Gargi Sen.C, Reddy, A. N. and Srinivasalu, S. (2005) A record of foraminiferal assemblage in tsunami sediments along Nagappattinam coast, Tamil Nadu. Current Science, 89, Kathal, P. K. and Bhalla, S.N., and Rajiv Nigam., Foramgeographical Affinities of the West and East Coasts of India: An approach through cluster Analysis and comparison of Taxonomical, Environmental and Ecological Parameters of Recent Foraminiferal Thanatotopes ONGC Bulletin, 2000, 37(2), Hammer, Ø., Harper, D. A. T., and P. D. Ryan,. PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 2001,4 (1); 9 pp. 18 Suresh Gandhi, M. and Rajamanickam, G.V., Distribution of certain ecological parameters and foraminiferal distribution in the depositional environment of Palk Strait, east coast of India. Indian J. Marine Sci, 2004, 33 (3), Kameswara Rao.K and Balasubramanian, T., Distribution of Foraminifera in the Cochin Estuary, J. mar. boil. Ass. India, 1996, 38 (1&2),

Agglutinated foraminifera from the Chilka Lake, Orissa, east coast of India

Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences Vol. (), April 1, pp. 31-3 Agglutinated foraminifera from the Chilka Lake, Orissa, east coast of India R. Anil Kumar *, K. Bangaku Naidu & R. Kaladhar Department of