Conqueria laevis gen. and sp. nov., a new soft-walled, monothalamous foraminiferan from the deep Weddell Sea

Abstract

Conqueria laevis gen. and sp. nov., a new monothalamous agglutinated foraminiferan, is described from core samples collected in the abyssal western Weddell Sea. The species is characterized by a very elongate, almost cylindrical test that usually follows a more or less curved course and has a single terminal aperture located at the end of a short neck. The wall has a very smooth outer surface and is composed of tiny (<5 μm) agglutinated particles. Very similar and presumably congeneric morphotypes occur at northern hemisphere sites, including Arctic fjords around Svalbard and the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences, indicate that the new Weddell Sea species forms an independent lineage branching among monothalamous foraminiferans as a sister group to the clade of Psammophaga.