Distribution of Recent Benthic Foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico, Volume 1

Abstract

A computer file of all published (presence or absence) distributional data on the living and dead recent benthic foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico was constructed from 77 papers published since 1918. Manipulation of this file produced 5 catalogs and 296 maps. Catalog 1 lists alphabetically species names with publication and locality information as recorded in the literature (i.e., unsynonymized). Catalog 2 lists synonymized species names (in the same numerical line order as Catalog 1) with publication and locality information. Catalogs 3 and 4 list alphabetically all unsynonymized and synonymized species names, respectively. Catalog 5 lists synonymized names by increasing latitude and longitude. During the past 60 years, 1219 names have been used to record benthic foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico. Through synonymization, these were reduced to 848 species, of which 295 occur at 16 or more of the 426 sample localities. Computer-generated maps were drawn for these 295 most commonly recorded species. Species were grouped by depth and geographic distribution through visual examination of the maps. Twenty overlapping categories describe the depth distribution of the commonly recorded species. The depth distribution of 15 species varies considerably around the Gulf. Geographically the 295 most commonly recorded species may be grouped into 11 categories. Forty-eight percent of the species are ubiquitous around the Gulf. Circum-Gulf of Mexico provincial boundaries cannot be recognized but preliminary analysis distinguishes concentric benthic foraminiferal provinces whose margins can be related to particular depths and physiographic regions.