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 Marginopora Quoy & Gaimard 1830 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard 1830 (de Blainville 1830 ) ( Fig. 15 :14–20; Fig. 16 :1–8) 1830 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard (de Blainville 1830 ) , p.377. 1884 Orbitolites complanata Lamarck ; Brady, pl.16, figs 1–6; pl. 17, figs 1–6. 1933 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Cushman, p. 203, pl. 24, figs 15–17. 1942 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Cushman, p. 112, 119, pl.12, fig. 6. 1960 Marginopora vertebralis Blainville , p.32, pl.16, figs 1–6; pl. 17, figs 1–6. 1965 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Jell et al ., p. 277, pl. 44, fig. 1. 1966 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Lloyd, p. 93, pl.15, fig. 6. 1972 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Ross, p.183, figs 1–17; p.185, figs 18–25. 1984 Marginopora vertebralis (Blainville) ; Hallock, p. 251, fig. 1: 4. 1987 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard, Loeblich & Tappan , p. 381, pl. 418, figs 1–8; pl. 419, figs 1–3. 1994 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Gudmundsson, p. 131, figs 49–54. 1995 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Lobegeier, p. 78, pl. 4, figs 8, 9. 1997 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Lee et al ., p. 256, pl. 3, figs 5, 6; pl. 4, figs 1–6. 2012 Marginopora vertebralis Quoy & Gaimard ; Debenay, p. 109, pl. 4. Description. See Gudmundsson (1994, p. 131, figs 49–54) ; Loeblich & Tappan (1987, p. 381, pl. 418, figs 1–8; pl. 419, figs 1–3) . Remarks. This distinctive species is characterised by a discoidal, biconcave megalospheric test with a thickened periphery and numerous pores. More importantly, this taxon has numerous small circular apertures that are randomly scattered around the medial area of the peripheral wall and bordered by single rows of apertures at each of the marginal areas that are intercameral pores that diagonally connect successive chambers ( Fig. 15 :14–20; Fig. 16 :1–8). In comparison to Sorites orbiculus ( Forskål 1775 ) , M. vertebralis bears multiple, randomly arrayed apertures on the peripheral wall as opposed to the the larger, rimmed often figure-8 shaped, more ordered apertures of S . orbiculus . These two species can be further differentiated by the nuclear distribution and internal chamber architecture. However, identification of these attributes in the CG specimens was difficult to ascertain. Marginopora vertebralis has been reported from numerous global locations including the Red Sea , Hawaiian Islands , Caribbean and Marshall Islands , The Philippines , Sulu Archipelago and Grand Island ( Gudmundsson 1994 ). In their biogeographic review, Langer & Hottinger (2000) reported M . vertebralis was an Indo-Pacific epiphyte from the upper photic zone with a distribution encompassing the North and South Pacific from Easter Island and Hawaii in the east, west to the Tokara Islands and south to the CG. Brady (1884) reported specimens from the Loo Choo Islands of the Pacific , from depths of 73 m on the Honolulu Reefs , 33 m at the Friendly Islands and from 15–36 m at the Gulf of Suez . Cushman ( 1933 a; 1942 ) reported specimens from Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef at Heron Island , respectively. Marginopora vertebralis was also reported from the GBR at Feather, Peart and Nathan Reefs by Ross (1972) and Jell et al . (1965) found this taxon as a common inhabitant on the outer reef flat of Heron Island attached to the green algae Halimeda . Lloyd (1966) also retrieved this taxon from a Heron Island bore from a depth of 0–5 m and from Wreck Island at depths of 163 – 495 m. Hallock (1984) found M. vertebralis within Oahu and Palau , Hawai and the Western Caroline Islands, as a shallow, protected shoal species. Lobegeier (1995) collected this species in high numbers from Low Isles Reef Flat , GBR and Lee et al . (1997) and Garcia-Cuetos et al. (2005) from Lizard Island , GBR for symbiont DNA analysis. Debenay (2012) recovered specimens from the southwestern lagoon of New Caledonia at depths ranging between 0– 45 m . Distribution within study area. Marginopora vertebralis was the most abundant soritid species collected and was found in almost all areas of the four sampled reefs with one to thirty specimens found per site. Only a handful of lagoon sites did not contain any specimens. Marginopora vertebralis was most abundant at site 15 of Transect 2 across Heron Reef flat, site 36 in One Tree Lagoon 1, site 36 in One Tree Lagoon 2 and site 50 in One Tree Lagoon 3.