Benthic Foraminifera from the Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia Author Mamo, Briony L. text Zootaxa 2016 4215 1 1 123 journal article 37169 10.11646/zootaxa.4215.1.1 0087fa4c-a4f0-45d9-a2de-d433d7885753 1175-5326 272923 B91D1782-C11A-4CDC-96B6-76104FEE51BD Neorotalia Bermúdez 1952 Neorotalia calcar ( d'Orbigny 1839 ) ( Fig. 23 :18–21) 1839 Calcarina calcar d’Orbigny , p. 81, pl. 5, figs 22–24. 1965 Calcarina calcar d’Orbigny ; Jell et al ., p. 277, pl. 44, fig. 5. 1978 Pararotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Cheng & Xheng, p. 221, pl. 25, figs 2–7. 1991 b Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Hottinger et al ., p. 23, figs 4–7. 1993 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Hottinger et al ., p. 140, pl. 199, figs 1–10. 1997 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Haig, p. 278, fig. 7: 13–14. 1999 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Hohenegger et al ., p. 146, fig. 21. 2002 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Yordanova & Hohenegger, p. 194, pl. 33, figs 1–3. 2003 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Langer & Lipps, p. 52, fig. 7De. 2009 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Parker, p. 668, figs 472a–f, 473a– i. 2012 Neorotalia calcar (d’Orbigny) ; Debenay, p. 204–5, pl. 18. Description. See Hohenegger et al . (1999 , p. 146, fig. 21), Hottinger et al . (1991b , p. 23, figs 4–7; 1993, p. 140, pl. 199, figs 1–10) and Yordanova & Hohengger (2002, p. 194, pl. 33, figs 1–3) . Remarks. Neorotalia calcar ( d’Orbigny 1839 ) is characterised by a low, trochospiral, biconvex test with inflated, diamond shaped chambers, pustulose ornament on spiral side, multiple umbilical plugs, thickened peripheral spines and an angular periphery ( Fig. 23 :18–21). Most specimens from the CG are damaged, but the main diagnostic features are present enabling confident identification. The most prominent morphological variation shown by this taxon is the development of the peripheral spines ( Hottinger et al. 1991b ; Parker 2009 ). In some examples the spines form produced points of the chambers (e.g. Cheng & Zheng 1978 , pl. 25, fig. 9; Debenay 2012 , pl. 18 form B; Haig 1997 , fig. 7;12–13; Hottinger et al . 1991, figs 4: 2; Parker 2009 , fig. 473) or are distinctly spiked extensions that emerge from the chamber and taper to a sharpened point (e.g. Debenay 2012 , pl. 18, form A; Hottinger et al . 1991, fig. 4: 1; Jell 1965 , pl. 44, fig. 5; Langer & Lipps 2003 ; fig. 7De; Parker 2009 fig. 472). Capricorn Group specimens were represented by both spine types ( Fig. 23 :18, 21) D’Orbigny’s (1826) type specimens of N . calcar were collected from the Caribbean , Mauritius and Madagascar and has a global distribution (Southern GBR—Jell et al . 1965; Xisha Island , Guandong—Cheng & Zheng 1978 ; Gulf of Aqaba and Red Sea—Hottinger et al. 1991b, 1993; Exmouth Gulf—Haig 1997; Papua New Guinea to 45 m—Langer & Lipps 2003 ; Sesoko Island , Okinawa to 20 m preferring hard reef substrates— Hohenegger et al . 1999 , Yordanova & Hohenegger 2002 ; Ningaloo Reef—Parker 2009; New Caledonia living on algal thalli to 2 m—Debenay 2012). Distribution within study area. Similar to the distribution discussed by Hohenegger et al . (1999) and Yordanova & Hohengger (2002) , N . calcar is predominantly in shallow water environments with a hard substrate such as reef flats. The two sites with the greatest abundance were samples 6 and 8 along transect 3 on Heron Reef flat. Indeed, five of the seven sites with comparatively high numbers of specimens (in excess of ten specimens) were located here. Neorotalia calcar was absent from the channel sample. Live specimens of N . calcar were collected from Heron Reef flat along transects 1 and 3 with one to two specimens at four sites.