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Bottom Water Characteristics and Their Influence on Temporal Distribution of Benthic Foraminifera from off Manapad, Gulf of Mannar, South East Coast of India

Twinkle Jacob*, Kumar V.

Department of Geology, Kristu Jyoti College, Changanacherry, Kerala, India – 686104

Abstract: To understand the influence of bottom water characteristics on temporal distribution of benthic foraminifera, sediment and bottom water samples were collected at 18 stations ranging in depth from 2.3 m to 17.4 m, from off Manapad, Gulf of Mannar. The collections were carried out, once in four months starting from May 2016, for a period of one year - representing summer (May), period between SW and NE monsoons (September) and winter/post monsoon (January). Thus, the collections amounted to a total of 54 samples. Faunal analysis led to the recognition of 99 foraminiferal species belonging to 47 genera, 33 families, 17 super families of suborders Textulariina, Miliolina, Lagenina and Rotaliina. The population size both as living and total (living + dead) in each of the stations during different seasons have been found out. It was observed that the fauna is in living condition in all the samples of all the collections and the living population was found to be maximum in summer (May) and in winter (January). Among the 99 foraminiferal species identified, six species were found to be significant and abundant viz. Ammonia beccarii, A. tepida, Asterorotalia inflata, Noninoides boueanum, Quinqueloculina seminulum and Spiroloculina communis. The various bottom water parameters of all the 54 samples have been estimated and correlated with foraminiferal population. The water parameters do not show marked variation among different stations of a collection, but a distinctive variation was seen between seasonal collections. The temporal distribution of assemblages was found to be closely associated with sea bottom environments and bathymetry. Temporally, the increase in temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH content of the bottom water are suggested for an abundance of living population. Abundant and widespread foraminiferal population was also found to have a positive correlation with that of temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen of the bottom water. In the present area, spatially depth is the controlling factor for the abundance of population in all seasons.

Keywords: benthic foraminifera, temporal distribution, bottom water characters, Manapad, Gulf of Mannar

Received October 17, 2019; Revised November 24, 2019; Accepted December 08, 2019

Citation: Twinkle Jacob, Kumar V., Bottom Water Characteristics and Their Influence on Temporal Distribution of Benthic Foraminifera from off Manapad, Gulf of Mannar, South East Coast of India. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 7 (6). 245-254. January 2019. doi:10.12691/aees-7-6-6

1. Introduction

Benthic foraminifera is an important meiofaunal group that can detail about the environmental and ecological changes. It is a diverse group that has wide distribution in the marine sediments [1,2,3]. Benthic foraminiferal compositions are excellent indicators of productivity and deep-water circulation patterns in an area [4]. Environmental stress by anthropogenic and natural elements can result in test deformation [5] and are thus incredible pointers for various pollution sources near the coastal fringes [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. Foraminiferal species distribution and richness depends on many environmental factors. Spatial and temporal variations in the substrate and bottom water characteristics largely determine the variation of foraminiferal assemblages in an area [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31]. But there can also be a single main factor that can determine population in a region [32].

The present study deals with variation in temporal distribution of benthic foraminifera with respect to bottom water parameters from off Manapad, Gulf of Mannar. The area under study lies between N 8° 22’ to N 8°27’latitudes and E 78°4’ to E 78° 10’ longitude (Figure 1). This region has a raised beach with sand bar parallel to the coastline, towards north of Kulashekarapattinam. The main aims of the study were:

i) to ascertain the seasonal variations of foraminiferal fauna.

ii) to correlate their distribution with observed water parameters.

iii) to understand distribution of abundant species with environmental factors.

Figure 1. Study area map showing sample locations

2. Materials and Methods

The collections of sediment and bottom water samples at 18 stations have been carried out, once in four months starting from May 2016, for a period of one year - representing summer (May), period between SW and NE monsoons (September) and winter/post monsoon (January), using motor launch. Thus, the collections amounted to a total of 54 samples.

The sediment samples were collected by Peterson mud grab and Nansen water sampler was used to collect water samples from sediment water interface. At the time of sediment collection, a unit volume of 100 ml of wet sediment was preserved in 10% formaldehyde solution for the foraminiferal study. To understand the ecology of foraminiferal species, both living and dead species were to be studied [33]. The separation of living from dead was done by Walton’s [34] Rose Bengal staining technique. Finer sediment particles were removed by washing all the samples through a 63µm size sieve mesh. Samples were then dried and foraminiferal species were separated from sediment by the CCl₄ floatation technique. A stereo- binocular microscope was then used to count and mount the specimens in micropaleontological slides.

At the time of collection, bottom water temperature was recorded using an in-built thermometer of the sampler. The dissolved oxygen content of the bottom water sample was measured using portable dissolved oxygen analyser, immediately after the collection. Salinity was detected using salino-meter after making necessary precautions in sampling and standardisation while, pH of the water samples was determined by a glass electrode and electrometer type pH meter after taking necessary precautions.

3. Results and Discussion

Local hydrography and sediment pore water acidity were considered to determine the dominance of agglutinated or calcareous forms while opportunistic species were determined by the natural environmental properties prevailing in an area [5]. According to Moghaddasi B. et. al. [25], Oman sea environmental conditions like warm water, enough dissolved oxygen and fine silt-sand structure of the sediment particles were found to be very suitable for benthic foraminifera when compared to other meiobenthic communities. Post A. L. et. al. [28] suggested that benthic foraminifera largely depend on changes in water depth, percent carbonate mud, percent gravel, organic carbon flux, temperature and salinity. Also, preservation was found to be affected by the low sedimentation rate. Hence in the present study, the abundance of foraminiferal species was compared with depth and bottom water parameters like temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH. As revealed by Moghaddasi B. et. al. [25] for Oman sea benthic zone, distribution pattern of benthic foraminifera cannot be inferred by a single environmental factor. On the other hand, it was the overall effect of different environmental factors. This was observed to be effective for the present study area also. Study of benthic foraminifera on Palar estuary by Nagendra R. et. al. [26] revealed that different species prefer different environmental conditions. According to them, A. parkinsoniana favored low salinity and high dissolved oxygen, A. beccarii a higher salinity and lower dissolved oxygen than A. parkinsoniana while, Quinqueloculina species favoured an open marine condition.

3.1. Bathymetry

Bathymetry is an important criterion that determines foraminiferal species abundance and diversity. Water depth is considered as the vital factor in determining the foraminiferal distribution along with other variables like salinity, temperature, light, etc. [13]. B. Moghaddasi et. al. [25] contemplate water depth as a preferable factor in controlling the foraminiferal distribution, in their detailed study on continental shelf sediments along with factors like salinity and substrate type. They proposed that suborder Lagenina shows an increase in abundance towards stations with greater depth in the continental shelf sediments of Northern Oman Sea. M.V.A. Martins et. al. [35] emphasized that in the continental shelf of Campos basin, living foraminiferal composition varies with respect to bathymetry along with sediment characteristics and organic matter supply. In the study between living and dead foraminiferal assemblages done on Aveiro Continental Shelf of Portugal, it was confirmed that with an increase in depth, dead species shows an increase in diversity with limited changes in heterogeneity while living ones exhibits a decrease in diversity with an increase in heterogeneity [36].

In the area under study, stations 1 and 18 are the nearest stations to shore and 8, 9 and 10 are the farthest stations. In all seasons, population size and diversity were seen to increase from near shore stations to the farther stations, when other parameters were congenial. Figure 2 shows the variation in depth during sample collection for three different seasons.

Figure 2. Depth variations for different stations and seasons

3.2. Foraminifera

Faunal study of present area led to the identification of 99 benthonic foraminiferal species belonging to 47 genera, 33 families, 17 super families of the suborders Textulariina, Miliolina, Lagenina and Rotaliina. The classification was based on the taxonomic nomenclature proposed by Loeblich and Tappan [37]. Among the 99 foraminiferal species, 12 were arenaceous agglutinated (suborder Textulariina), 33 were calcareous porcelaneous - imperforate (suborder Miliolina), 9 were calcareous hyaline forms (suborder Lagenina) and 45 were calcareous perforate (suborder Rotaliina). In the Arabian sea, agglutinated foraminiferal species were noted to have an increase in abundance with water depth when compared with the calcareous forms [38]. But in the present study area, calcareous forms showed an increase in abundance than agglutinated species.

Of all the total species identified, 6 species were found to be abundant and wide spread in the present study area viz. Ammonia beccarii, A. tepida, Asterorotalia inflata, Noninoides boueanum, Quinqueloculina seminulum and Spiroloculina communis. Taxonomic chart of the foraminiferal species is given in Table 1.

3.2.1. Living Population

Living foraminiferal population size was counted uniformly from 100 ml of wet sediment for each sample. Living specimens were present in all the samples collected and studied. Spatially, living population size was found to be maximum in station 9 of May (394 specimens) and minimum in station 18 of September (77 specimens). Temporally, the summer season (May) accounted for higher population (4153 specimens) followed by winter (January) with 3943 specimens and the minimum was observed during monsoon (September) with 3567 specimens. Out of the 99 species, only 17 were found to be in living condition in all the stations. Among them, Ammonia beccarii was seen to be the most abundant living species with a population size of 360 in May, 349 in January and 302 in September. It was followed by Ammonia tepida and Quinqueloculina seminulum. Least represented species was Bolivina nobilis with a population size of 41 in May, 38 in January and 35 in September.

In general, spatially maximum population size was found in stations 8, 9 and 10 which were farthest from the shore. Minimum population size was reported by the samples collected from near shore stations 1 and 18. Variation in living population for three seasons in number of specimens per unit volume of wet sediment is given in Figure 3.

3.2.2. Total Population

Total population is the sum of both living and dead specimens Station 1 of September have the lowest population (288 specimens) and Station 9 of May (1190 specimens) have the maximum population size per 100 ml of wet sediment. Stations near to the shore always showed a lower population size when compared to the farther stations from the shore. Seasonally, samples collected in September have the minimum total population size of 11125 specimens and those collected in May have the maximum total population size of 13268 specimens per 100 ml of wet sediment. It was also observed that in all the three seasons, farther stations from shore recorded higher total population size than those stations which were near shore. Variation in total population for three seasons, in number of specimens per unit volume of wet sediment is given in Figure 4.

Table 1. Taxonomy Chart of 99 Benthic Foraminiferal Species from the Study Area

Figure 3. Living population for different stations and seasons

Figure 4. Total population for different stations and seasons

Figure 5. Cumulative percent of abundant species for three seasons

Figure 6. Distribution of abundant species (number of specimens per unit volume of wet sediment)

3.2.3. Species Diversity of Abundant Species

A total of 99 species were identified from the study area. Out of them, 6 species were detected to be abundant and widely occuring in all the stations and seasons. They include Ammonia beccarii, A.tepida, Asterorotalia inflata, Noninoides boueanum, Quinqueloculina seminulum and Spiroloculina communis. Among them, Ammonia beccarii followed by Ammonia tepida were ascertained to be the most abundant in all the seasonal collections and Spiroloculina communis was revealed to be the least abundant in this category. All the abundant species were detected to have higher population in May and lower in September (Figure 6). Spatial distribution of abundant species for May 2016, September 2016 and January 2017 is given in Figure 5. The figure reveals that near shore stations have high predominance of abundant species while farther stations have lower predominance of these species. In stations 1,2,3,4,15,16,17 and 18 species diversity is very less and abundant species namely Ammonia beccarii, A.tepida, Asterorotalia inflata, Noninoides boueanum, Quinqueloculina seminulum and Spiroloculina communis are the predominant species as they were able to withstand the restricted environmental conditions prevailed in near shore stations. On the other hand, in stations 5 to 14 species diversity is more and hence the percentage distribution of abundant species is also less.

3.3. Bottom Water Parameters

For the present study, bottom water parameters like temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH were considered for ecological studies. Variations in values for these parameters were found out both spatially and temporally and were then correlated with both living population size and total population size of foraminifera to understand how each parameter influenced foraminiferal population.

3.3.1. Temperature

It is considered as an important factor that relates positively with foraminiferal population size. Bradshaw [39,40] through his experiments ascertained that abundant population size is seen in a range of 20°C - 35°C. This finding was well related with the study in Suddagedda estuary, east coast of India by Venkata Rao and Subha Rao [41]. They found larger population within a range of 23°C - 29°C. Kumar and Manivannan [42] from their study in Palk Bay, off Rameswaram, observed that living population size is more when the temperature is high. But, in the Yellow sea intertidal zone, species richness was found to have a negative relation to temperature [23].

In the present study, lowest temperature was recorded for stations 1 and 18 in January (29.3°C) and highest for stations 7, 8 and 10 in May (32.8°C). Seasonally, maximum mean temperature was noted in the month of May (32.61°C) and minimum in January (29.54°C). Temperature variation for all three seasons is shown in Figure 7. Spatial variation of temperature during a season was meagre and thus had no specific effect on population size. But temporally, variation in temperature exhibited an effect on both living and total population. Temperature was seen to be positively correlated with population size. Collections during May recorded a high mean temperature and favored a higher population.

3.3.2. Salinity

Many studies reveal that salinity play vital role in the diversity and abundance of foraminiferal population. Increase or decrease in salinity values was found to influence abundance of certain species and complete absence of others. Boltovosky and Wright [43] confirmed that hyper saline water with high carbonate content favored the abundance of porcellaneous Milioline forms like Nuberculariniidae and Miliolidae. After conducting a detailed study in Araniyar river estuary of Pulicat, Reddy et. al. [44] revealed that salinity variation has positive correlation on abundance of both living and total species. In the Uppanar river estuary, salinity was ascertained to play the most influencing role on the foraminiferal fauna [45]. Benthic species undergone partial deformation after short term exposure to low salinity, can regain the form, still holding impressions of the hyposaline conditions they have been into [46]. The lake Shihwa exhibited higher number of test abnormalities which was confirmed as the result of hyposaline water and in the variation of salinity values in between rainy and summer seasons [12]. A study in the intertidal zone of the Yellow zone, Lei Y. et. al. [23] found out that foraminiferal abundance and species richness have a positive relation to salinity. Sreenivasulu G. et. al. [47] through their study in the Beypore estuary reconfirmed this and also suggested that salinity lower than normal value causes a reduction in the test size of foraminiferal species.

In the present study, spatial variation in salinity values of a season was mere. But seasonally highest value was recorded for summer season (May, 32.18 ppt) and least for monsoon season (September, 29.51ppt). Lower mean value in September may be due to the larger influx of fresh water. Temporally, salinity was observed to be positively correlated with population abundance. Change in the average of salinity values for different seasons is exhibited in Figure 7.

3.3.3. Dissolved oxygen

Rasheed and Ragothaman [48] stated that dissolved oxygen is one of the factors contributing to the abundance of living population in the Bay of Bengal, off Porto Novo. Kumar et. al. [21] discovered that dissolved oxygen does not show notable changes between stations but influence on population during different seasons. Sivakumar [49] and Gangaimani [50] also observed a positive relation for dissolved oxygen with population abundance in their ecological studies carried out in Gulf of Mannar region. This was also reconfirmed by S. Mohan [51] in his study on benthic foraminifera in northern part of Gulf of Mannar. In deeper waters, oxygen and organic carbon flux are the main environmental factors controlling species distribution when other environmental factors exhibit a minor variation spatially or even temporally [32]. In the work done in Palar estuary by R. Nagendra et. al. [26], species like Ammonia beccarii, A. tepida and A. parkinsoniana had a positive relationship with dissolved oxygen and salinity.

During the present study, dissolved oxygen values varied from 5.3 ml/l (in 8 stations of September) to 6.5 ml/l (stations 3 and 15 of May). Spatially, the values of dissolved oxygen content were not varying much and a correlation with foraminiferal population was not able to be achieved. Average dissolved oxygen values were found to be higher during May (6.32 ml/l) and lower during September (5.41 ml/l). Hence seasonally, both living and total population size were positively related with dissolved oxygen. Seasonal variation of dissolved oxygen for three seasons is given in Figure 8.

3.3.4. pH

Phleger F. B. [33] pointed out that pH affects the production of calcareous tests. In the work done at Bay of Bengal, off Porto Novo, Ragothaman [52], observed that pH did not varied much during different seasons and between stations. Influx of fresh water during rainy season can decrease salinity that can directly result in a low pH, altogether causing dissolution of foraminiferal tests [12]. If dissolution of calcareous tests is high, it can cause predominance of non-calcareous agglutinated forms than calcareous forms [53]. Kurtarker S. R. et. al. [46] noted that the dissolution of calcareous tests also take place in alkaline seawater than that was noted before. The experimental study of salinity induced pH by Saraswat R. et. al. [54], confirmed that a pH below 7.5 can severely disrupt the calcite secretion and reproduction ability of benthic foraminifera. Further, experimental study to understand influence of increased atmospheric CO2, that may happen in the near future, revealed that high CO2 can end up in ocean acidification declining foraminiferal survival rate and calcification [55].

Present study exhibited a constancy in pH value between stations of a month. But temporally highest mean value was recorded for May (8.22) and lowest for September (7.95) and thus accounted in a positive relation with population abundance. Seasonal pH mean values are given in Figure 8.

Figure 7. Seasonal variations of Salinity and Temperature

Figure 8. Seasonal variations of pH and Dissolved oxygen (DO)

4. Summary and Conclusion

For the study, systematic collection of sediment and bottom water samples at 18 stations ranging in depth from 2.3m to 17.4m, from off Manapad, Gulf of Mannar was done. The collections have been carried out, once in four months starting from May 2016, for a period of one year - representing summer (May), period between SW and NE monsoons (September) and winter/post monsoon (January). The various bottom water parameters have been evaluated. The maximum living population size was found to be more in deeper part of the collection, stations between 8 and 10, in all the three collections. Seasonally, the living population size was determined to be maximum during May and minimum during September.

Spatially, temperature and dissolved oxygen content do not show appreciable variation, but seasonally a noticeable variation was observed. Temporally, a positive relationship between the temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content and pH of the bottom waters and the living foraminiferal population size was noticed.

In the present study, 99 benthic foraminiferal species belonging to 47 genera, 33 families, 17 super families of the suborders Textulariina, Miliolina, Lagenina and Rotaliina have been identified. The following 6 species were detected as abundantly occurring: Ammonia beccarii, A.tepida, Asterorotalia inflata, Noninoides boueanum, Quinqueloculina seminulum and Spiroloculina communis. Distribution of these abundant foraminifera has been discussed and all the species were identified to have maximum reproduction and population during summer.

In general, in the present area, the increase in temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content and pH of the bottom water are suggested for the abundance of living population. Spatially, the living population is positively correlated with the depth of the water column.

Acknowledgements

The authors are sincerely thankful to the authorities of National College (Autonomous), Tiruchirapalli for providing the lab facilities and also for their help in various capacities. The first author is grateful to Rev. Fr. Joshy Cheeramkuzhy CMI (Principal, Kristu Jyoti College, Changanacherry, Kerala) and Dr. Benno Joseph (Head of the Department of Geology, Kristu Jyoti College, Changanacherry, Kerala) for giving permission to pursue the research.

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