Tinogullmia lukyanovae sp. nov.—a monothalamous, organic-walled foraminiferan from the coastal Black Sea

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that monothalamous (single-chambered) foraminifera are an important component of meiobenthic communities in the brackish, coastal waters of the Black Sea. The dominant taxa include Psammophaga and Vellaria, both of which are common in estuarine settings in other parts of the world. Here, we describe Tinogullmia lukyanovae sp. nov. from the Crimean and Caucasus regions of the Black Sea. The new species is several hundreds of microns in size. It is characterized by a more or less symmetrical, spindle-shaped to cylindrical, organic-walled test with two terminal apertural structures, usually in the form of rounded or more elongate, nipple-like projections. The protoplasm is finely granular and a nucleus is not visible. The new species typically occurs in well-oxygenated water at depths of a few tens of metres or less. A specimen from a 250-m deep site off the Caucasus coast, tentatively assigned to T. lukyanovae sp. nov., is of particular interest because it occurs at a depth where the bottom water is anoxic and sulphidic.