Benthic Foraminifera of Laucala Bay (Suva, Fiji)

Ashishika Sharma1, Kelly Brown2, Kevin Mackay3

1 Auckland Council, , New Zealand; 2 The University of the South Pacific, , Fiji; 3 

Corresponding author(s): Ashishika SharmaKelly Brown

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Sharma A, Brown K (2019): Benthic Foraminifera of Laucala Bay (Suva, Fiji). v1.0. Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node. Dataset/Occurrence. https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=suvaforam&v=1.0

Abstract

Foraminifera (often abbreviated to "forams") are acellular organisms (protists) that form shells (tests) of calcium carbonate or cemented grains of sand or other material which, when the animals die, may form calcareous sand. The purpose of the study was to determine the species of benthic foraminifera present in Laucala Bay, and to investigate the role of large foraminifera, especially the soritid Marginopora vertebralis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) in supplying carbonate sediments to a lagoonal sedimentary system in Fiji, namely the Nukubuco Reef flat in Laucala Bay. A total of 68 different species from 48 different genera were identified from the 13 sites sampled and the species classification and taxonomy were determined.

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation

General description

Additional information: marine, harvested by iOBIS

Data published through GBIF: https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=suvaforam

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: Phylum foraminifera
Taxonomic ranks
Phylum: foraminifera

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Laucala Bay, Suva, Fiji
Coordinates: 18°11'24''S and 18°6'36''S Latitude; 178°24'0''E and 178°31'48''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: March 1, 2004 - July 31, 2004

Methods

Method step description: Detailed methodology can be obtained from the Master of Science thesis in the Citations section.
Study extent description: This dataset describes the species of foraminifera that were identified in Laucala Bay, Suva, Fiji, as part of a Master of Science research thesis.
Sampling description: Sediment samples of approximately 1kg were collected from 12 sites in Laucala Bay and one site in Suva Harbour, by wading or snorkeling and collecting handfuls of sand, or in deeper water, using a grab sampler.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Benthic Foraminifera of Laucala Bay (Suva, Fiji)
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/archive.do?r=suvaforam
Publication date of data: 2019-12-27
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2019-12-27
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Sharma, A. D. (2007). A study of the benthic foraminifera of Laucala Bay, with special focus on Marginopora vertebralis. Master of Science in Marine Science thesis. The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. http://digilib.library.usp.ac.fj/gsdl/collect/usplibr1/index/assoc/HASH0180/d8252707.dir/doc.pdf