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Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages in the Pahang River Delta (Pahang, Malaysia)

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Abstract

Sixty-six surface sediments were collected to investigate the species composition and distribution patterns of living and dead benthic foraminifera from the Pahang River Delta (east coast Peninsular Malaysia). The foraminiferal assemblages comprised 50,411 individuals from 30 families (88 species within 50 genera) in the study area. Agglutinated foraminifera were dominant at the river mouth area while calcareous species dominated the offshore sampling sites. By using Q-mode cluster analysis, four faunal assemblages were associated with distant water depths and sediment substrates. The first assemblage, dominated by Asterorotalia pulchella, was present from the station with the highest abundance amongst the other stations in the study area from the water depths <15 m and associated with silty sand substrate. The second assemblage was mostly dominated by larger foraminifera that occurred at the deeper parts of the study area with mostly sand substrate. The third assemblage consisting of the agglutinated species Ammobaculites exiguus, occured in the river mouth at water depths less than 10 m and was associated with high content of silt and clay substrate. The fourth assemblage was dominated by the agglutinated species Ammonia and Elphidium and occurred at the shallow parts of the study area with fine sand and sandy mud substrate. Considering the above, the assemblage clustering suggests that the distribution patterns of benthic foraminifera in the study area were strongly influenced by water depth and type of sediment substrate.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia through research grant (DPP-2015-075 and AP-2014-007). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the staff in School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for the SEM images.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    N. N. Faiz, R. Omar & M. N. A. Malek

  2. Langkawi Research Centre (PPL), Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    K. R. Mohamed

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  1. N. N. Faiz
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Correspondence to N. N. Faiz.

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Table 4 List of benthic foraminifera in the study area
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Faiz, N.N., Mohamed, K.R., Omar, R. et al. Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages in the Pahang River Delta (Pahang, Malaysia). Thalassas 34, 65–79 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-017-0039-9

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