Exceptionally species-rich assemblages of modern larger benthic foraminifera from nearshore reefs in northern Palawan (Philippines)

Abstract Symbiont-bearing larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) are ubiquitous components of tropical and subtropical carbonate-rich shallow-water habitats and contribute substantially to coral reef accretion and stability. More than 60 species of LBF are currently described from the Indo-Pacific Ocean with the Philippines being recently identified as their potential center of maximum species richness. The Palawan archipelago, also known as the “last ecological frontier” of the Philippines and a hotspot of biodiversity, attracts a growing number of tourists due to its comparatively intact marine environments and picturesque landscapes. Here, we document and illustrate the species-rich fauna of modern LBF from shallow nearshore habitats in northern Palawan. Sampling covered the northernmost part of Palawan's South China and Sulu Sea coasts including the Calamian Islands group. A total of 24 samples were taken from fore-reef slopes, inter-reef areas, a back-reef, seagrass leaves with a nearby mangrove swamp, and a WW2 shipwreck at depths between 0 to 25 m. We recorded a total of 44 LBF morphospecies, a number that is among the highest reported so far. Heterostegina depressa and Calcarina mayori were identified as the most widely distributed taxa in the study area. We further describe Peneroplis hoheneggeri nov. sp. as a new species of Peneroplis de Montfort. The newly described peneroplid is characterized by single rows of large pits and was previously also documented from Micronesia. Our survey supports the designation of northern Palawan as an exceptionally biodiverse ecoregion with high priority for marine conservation efforts.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Revue de Micropaléontologie

• Publication date

  2019-12-01

• Fields of study

  Geology, Geography, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.revmic.2019.100387
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Combined Molecular and Morphological Taxonomy of the Beccarii/T3 Group of the Foraminiferal Genus Ammonia

  2019cited by this paper
• Large Benthic Foraminifera in Low-Light Environments

  2019cited by this paper
• Effectiveness of small locally-managed marine protected areas for coral reef fisheries management in the Philippines

  2019cited by this paper
• Status and recent trends in coral reefs of the Philippines.

  2019cited by this paper
• People and the changing nature of coral reefs

  2019cited by this paper
• Terrestrial influence as a key driver of spatial variability in large benthic foraminiferal assemblage composition in the Central Indo-Pacific

  2018cited by this paper
• Patterns of species richness and the center of diversity in modern Indo-Pacific larger foraminifera

  2018cited by this paper
• Systematic Revision of Symbiodiniaceae Highlights the Antiquity and Diversity of Coral Endosymbionts.

  2018cited by this paper
• Depth distribution of modern larger benthic foraminifera offshore Brunei Darussalam

  2018cited by this paper
• Potential for developing tourism in a sub-regional growth area (Roxas-Dumaran-Taytay) in northern mainland Palawan

  2018cited by this paper
• Atlas of benthic foraminifera from coral reefs of the Raja Ampat Archipelago (Irian Jaya, Indonesia)

  2018cited by this paper
• Morphological diversity in the foraminiferal genus Marginopora

  2018cited by this paper
• Evolutionary significance of the microbial assemblages of large benthic Foraminifera

  2018cited by this paper
• Spatial patterns and structural composition of foraminiferal assemblages from the Zanzibar Archipelago (Tanzania)

  2017cited by this paper
• Species Richness and Relative Abundance of Reef-Building Corals in the Indo-West Pacific

  2017cited by this paper
• Reef-wide beneficial shifts in fish population structure following establishment of marine protected areas in Philippine coral reefs

  2017cited by this paper
• DEPTH-RELATED MORPHOCLINES OF MEGALOSPHERIC TESTS OF HETEROSTEGINA DEPRESSA D'ORBIGNY: BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC AND PALEOBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

  2017cited by this paper
• Foraminifera of the Philippine and Adjacent Seas

  2017cited by this paper
• Test flattening in the larger foraminifer Heterostegina depressa: predicting bathymetry from axial sections

  2016cited by this paper
• Shell productivity of the large benthic foraminifer Baculogypsina sphaerulata, based on the population dynamics in a tropical reef environment

  2016cited by this paper
• Mesophotic mushroom coral records at Brunei Darussalam support westward extension of the Coral Triangle to the South China Sea waters of Northwest Borneo

  2016cited by this paper
• Shallow-water nearshore benthic foraminifera assemblages from Gabon

  2016cited by this paper
• VARIATION AMONG THE MARGINOPORA VERTEBRALIS COLLECTED FROM THE GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA

  2016cited by this paper
• Spatial Patterns in the Distribution, Diversity and Abundance of Benthic Foraminifera around Moorea (Society Archipelago, French Polynesia)

  2015cited by this paper
• Marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: what’s known and what’s next?

  2015cited by this paper
• Extraordinary diversity of reef corals in the South China Sea

  2015cited by this paper
• A Guide to 1,000 Foraminifera from Southwestern Pacific, New Caledonia

  2014cited by this paper
• Global Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation

  2014cited by this paper
• Molecular characterization of symbiotic algae (Symbiodinium spp.) in soritid foraminifera (Soritesorbiculus) and a scleractinian coral (Orbicella annularis) from St John, US Virgin Islands

  2014cited by this paper
• Long-term change in coral cover and the effectiveness of marine protected areas in the Philippines: a meta-analysis

  2014cited by this paper
• Habitat Availability and Heterogeneity and the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool as Predictors of Marine Species Richness in the Tropical Indo-Pacific

  2013cited by this paper
• The foraminifera from the Bazaruto Archipelago (Mozambique)

  2013cited by this paper
• RECENT FORAMINIFERA FROM THE WESTERN CONTINENTAL SHELF OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

  2013cited by this paper
• Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle

  2012cited by this paper
• Marine protected area networks in the Philippines: Trends and challenges for establishment and governance

  2012cited by this paper
• Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Kiritimati (Christmas) Island indicate human-mediated nutrification has occurred over the scale of decades

  2012cited by this paper
• Benthic Foraminifera from the Chuuk Lagoon Atoll System (Caroline Islands, Pacific Ocean)

  2011cited by this paper
• How to react to shallow water hydrodynamics: The larger benthic foraminifera solution.

  2011cited by this paper
• Circulation in the Philippine Archipelago Simulated by 1/12° and 1/25° Global HYCOM and EAS NCOM

  2011cited by this paper
• Palaeozoology of Palawan Island, Philippines

  2011cited by this paper
• Large foraminifera : greenhouse constructions and gardeners in the oceanic microcosm

  2011cited by this paper
• The Gulf of Aqaba: Ecological Micropaleontology

  2011cited by this paper
• Modern foraminiferal distribution and diversity in two atolls from the Maldives, Indian Ocean

  2011cited by this paper
• Regional Oceanography of the Philippine Archipelago

  2011cited by this paper
• Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa

  2010cited by this paper
• ASYNCHRONOUS CALCIFICATION IN JUVENILE MEGALOSPHERES: AN ONTOGENETIC WINDOW INTO THE LIFE CYCLE AND POLYMORPHISM OF PENEROPLIS

  2009cited by this paper
• Taxonomy of Foraminifera from Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

  2009cited by this paper
• Assessing the Contribution of Foraminiferan Protists to Global Ocean Carbonate Production 1

  2008cited by this paper
• Habitat selective factors influencing the distribution of larger benthic foraminiferal assemblages over the Kepulauan Seribu

  2008cited by this paper
• Diversity and geographic distribution of benthic foraminifera: a molecular perspective

  2008cited by this paper
• Relating species traits of foraminifera to environmental variables in the Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia

  2007cited by this paper
• Habitat variables determining the occurrence of large benthic foraminifera in the Berau area (East Kalimantan, Indonesia)

  2006cited by this paper
• Algal symbiosis in larger foraminifera

  2006cited by this paper
• The importance of symbiont-bearing benthic foraminifera for West Pacific carbonate beach environments

  2006cited by this paper
• Large benthic foraminifera from the deep photic zone of a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate shelf off East Kalimantan, Indonesia

  2006cited by this paper
• Latitudinal changes in larger benthic foraminiferal assemblages in shallow‐water reef sediments along the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

  2006cited by this paper
• Molecular evidence for host-symbiont specificity in soritid foraminifera.

  2005cited by this paper
• ON THE IDENTITY OF CALCARINA SPENGLERI (GMELIN 1791)

  2005cited by this paper
• The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity: the Philippine Islands

  2005cited by this paper
• Morphological distinction of molecular types in Ammonia – towards a taxonomic revision of the world’s most commonly misidentified foraminifera

  2004cited by this paper
• Morphoclines of living operculinid foraminifera based on quantitative characters

  2004cited by this paper
• A new modern soritid foraminifer, Amphisorus saurensis n. sp., from the Lizard Island Group (Great Barrier Reef, Australia)

  2004cited by this paper
• DEPTH COENOCLINES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS OF WESTERN PACIFIC LARGER FORAMINIFERA

  2004cited by this paper
• Larger foraminifera on reefs around Bali (Indonesia)

  2003cited by this paper
• Foraminiferal distribution and diversity, Madang Reef and Lagoon, Papua New Guinea

  2003cited by this paper
• Cenozoic geological and plate tectonic evolution of SE Asia and the SW Pacific: computer-based reconstructions, model and animations

  2002cited by this paper
• Taphonomy of larger foraminifera: Relationships between living individuals and empty tests on flat reef slopes (Sesoko Island, Japan)

  2002cited by this paper
• Marine Biodiversity Hotspots and Conservation Priorities for Tropical Reefs

  2002cited by this paper
• Meso-scale transboundary units for the management of coral reefs in the South China Sea area

  2002cited by this paper
• Larger Foraminfera as marine environmental indicators

  2002cited by this paper
• Molecular phylogeny of large miliolid foraminifera (Soritacea Ehrenberg 1839)

  2001cited by this paper
• Molecular Identification of Algal Endosymbionts in Large Miliolid Foraminifera: 1. Chlorophytes

  2001cited by this paper
• World atlas of coral reefs

  2001cited by this paper
• The Effects of Time-Averaging and Taphonomy on the Identification of Reefal Sub-Environments using Larger Foraminifera: Apo Reef, Mindoro, Philippines

  2001cited by this paper
• Larger benthic foraminifera and their distribution patterns on the Spermonde shelf, South Sulawesi

  2001cited by this paper
• Environmental Micropaleontology: The Application Of Microfossils To Environmental Geology

  2000cited by this paper
• Corals of the world

  2000cited by this paper
• A rapid marine biodiversity assessment of the Calamianes Islands, Palawan Province, Philippines

  2000cited by this paper
• Coenoclines of larger foraminifera

  2000cited by this paper
• REMARKS ON WEST PACIFIC NUMMULITIDAE (FORAMINIFERA)

  2000cited by this paper
• Habitats of larger foraminifera on the upper reef slope of Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan

  1999cited by this paper
• Global ocean carbonate and carbon dioxide production; the role of reef Foraminifera

  1997cited by this paper
• Remarks on the Distribution of Larger Foraminifera (Protozoa) from Belau (Western Carolines)

  1996cited by this paper
• Biogeography of Indo-Pacific larger foraminifera and scleractinian corals: a probabilistic approach to estimating taxonomic diversity, faunal similarity, and sampling bias

  1996cited by this paper
• Distribution of Living Larger Foraminifera NW of Sesoko‐Jima, Okinawa, Japan

  1994cited by this paper
• Phylogeny, ontogeny and systematics of Recent Soritacea Ehrenberg 1839 (Foraminiferida)

  1994cited by this paper
• Foraminifera with chlorophyte endosymbionts: Habitats of six species in the Florida Keys

  1993cited by this paper
• Benthic Foraminifera from Coral Seas between Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands,Southern Ryukyu Island Arc,Northwestern Pacific.-1-Systematic Descriptions of Textulariina and Miliolina

  1992cited by this paper
• Benthic Foraminifera from Coral Seas between Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands,Southern Ryukyu Island Arc,Northwestern Pacific-2-Systematic Descriptions of Rotaliina

  1992cited by this paper
• The foraminiferal genera Pararotalia, Neorotalia, and Calcarina: taxonomic revision

  1991cited by this paper
• Eastern Indonesian, Late Cenozoic Smaller Benthic Foraminifera

  1991cited by this paper
• Fine structure of the rhodophycean Porphyridium purpureum in situ in Peneroplis pertusus (Forskal) and P. acicularis (Batsch) and in axenic culture

  1990cited by this paper
• Buliminid foraminifera from inner neritic sand and mud facies of the Papuan Lagoon, New Guinea

  1988cited by this paper
• Algal Symbiosis as the Driving Force in the Evolution of Larger Foraminifera a

  1987cited by this paper
• Distribution patterns and taxonomy of benthic Foraminifera in the Lizard Island reef complex, northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia: 4-1. Annexes

  1987cited by this paper
• In situ growth rate experiments on the symbiont-bearing foraminifera Amphistegina lobifera and Amphisorus hemprichii

  1984cited by this paper
• Distribution of selected species of living algal symbiont-bearing foraminifera on two Pacific coral reefs

  1984cited by this paper
• Symbiosis in benthic foraminifera; specificity and host adaptations

  1984cited by this paper
• Light dependence in Amphistegina

  1981cited by this paper
• Trends in test shape with depth in large, symbiont-bearing foraminifera

  1979cited by this paper

• Enhancing expert elicitation techniques through participatory mapping: Application to marine environment assessments in Palawan, Philippines

  2025cites this paper
• Extant benthic foraminifera from the Indonesian seas: An update of what we know so far and implications for future studies

  2025cites this paper
• Uncovering foraminiferal assemblages in Pulau Redang and the importance of FoRAM index calibration for reef monitoring in South China sea.

  2024cites this paper
• Microfacies and species richness analysis of upper Bartonian and Priabonian carbonate shelf deposits from the Thrace Basin (Tethyan Ocean, Greece): Paleoenvironmental evolution and species-richness hotspot revealed

  2024cites this paper
• Heterogeneity among juvenile megalospheres in Peneroplis pertusus (Forskål) from the Line Islands (Pacific Ocean): Size range, morphotypes, and test deformations

  2024cites this paper
• Shallow water foraminifera from Niue and Beveridge Reef (South Pacific): insights into ecological significance and ecosystem integrity

  2024cites this paper
• Accumulation and exposure classifications of plastics in the different coastal habitats in the western Philippine archipelago.

  2023cites this paper
• Diversity and Distribution of the Benthic Foraminifera on the Brunei Shelf (Northwest Borneo): Effect of Seawater Depth

  2023cites this paper
• Ecological and health risks from heavy metal sources surrounding an abandoned mercury mine in the island paradise of Palawan, Philippines

  2023cites this paper
• Interpreting Morphologically Homogeneous (Paleo-)Populations as Ecological Species Enables Comparison of Living and Fossil Organism Groups, Exemplified by Nummulitid Foraminifera

  2022cites this paper
• Benthic foraminifera as bioindicator of coral reef condition in Nogas Island, Philippines

  2022cites this paper
• Proteome-Based Clustering Approaches Reveal Phylogenetic Insights into Amphistegina

  2022cites this paper
• Diversity and Depth Distribution of Modern Benthic Foraminifera Offshore Brunei Darussalam

  2022cites this paper
• Dynamics of large benthic foraminiferal assemblages: A tool to foreshadow reef degradation?

  2021cites this paper
• Understanding Local Perceptions of the Drivers/Pressures on the Coastal Marine Environment in Palawan, Philippines

  2021cites this paper
• Reef foraminifera as bioindicators of coral reef health in southern South China Sea

  2021cites this paper
• High productivity of Peneroplis (Foraminifera) including aberrant morphotypes, in an inland thalassic salt pond at Lake Macleod, Western Australia

  2020cites this paper
• Reef Foraminifera As Bioindicator Of Coral Reef Health in Pulau Tioman, Pahang, Malaysia

  2020cites this paper
• Alien and cryptogenic Foraminifera in the Mediterranean Sea: A revision of taxa as part of the EU 2020 Marine Strategy Framework Directive

  2020cites this paper