Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gibson, J. A. E. Articles by Paterson, K. S. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

PARATROCHAMMINA MINUTISSIMA N. SP. IN BRACKISH, MARINE-DERIVED LAKES OF THE VESTFOLD HILLS, EAST ANTARCTICA

¹ Marine Research Laboratories, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
² School of Earth Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 79, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
³ School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 5, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
⁵ Institute for Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 77, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.

⁷ Correspondence author. E-mail: John.Gibson{at}utas.edu.au

Paratrochammina minutissima n. sp. is described from Abraxas and Ace Lakes in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. The species is characterized by very small size (120 µm diameter), 4 chambers in the final whorl, weak adherence of particles to the tectin chamber lining and a relatively prominent proloculus. Similar species occur in the fully marine environment and often in the abyssal ocean. Subfossil tests were observed in sediment cores from Abraxas Lake and nearby Ace Lake. Apparently, living specimens also occurred in plankton samples from Abraxas Lake, possibly indicating a lifestyle partly attached to zooplankton or floating debris, or floating unattached on density surfaces within the meromictic lake. The distribution of subfossil Paratrochammina minutissima in the sediments of Ace Lake was consistent with a marine origin for the species, while the distribution in the Abraxas Lake sediment indicated that the lake might predate the last glacial maximum.