Destruction of tests of the foraminifer Sorites orbiculus by endolithic mircroorganisms in a lagoon on Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles)

Abstract

After reproduction or death, the empty shells of the epiphytic foraminifer Sorites orbiculus, living in a lagoon on Curaçao, sink to the bottom and are there intensively bored by endolithic algae. Fragmentation of S. orbiculus skeletons due to boring algae contributes to the generation of the silt fraction of the sediment; part of the calcareous tests is dissolved. The proportion and composition of Sorites-derived grains in a sediment sample taken in August differ from one taken in February. There is no trace of micritization in or around the bored soritid grains. This suggests that the demolition of a S. orbiculus test by endolithic algae is completed in a few weeks, or at the most in a few months.