Karreriella siphonella ( Reuss, 1851 )

Bergh, Eugene W. & Compton, John S., 2022, Taxonomy of Middle Miocene foraminifera from the northern Namibian continental shelf, Zootaxa 5091 (1), pp. 1-55 : 6

Karreriella siphonella ( Reuss, 1851)

Pl. 1, figs. 2–3

Gaudryina siphonella Reuss, 1851, p.78 , pl.5, figs. 40a, b; 42a, b.

Karreriella siphonella King, 1989, p. 456 , pl. 9.2, fig. 3; Hemleben et al., 1990, p. 194, pl. 12, fig. 17–18; pl. 25, fig. 8.

Description: The chamber walls are agglutinated. The test is elongate, rounded in cross-section and trochospiral in the early stage, reducing to triserial and biserial in the adult stage. The chambers enlarge toward the terminal end. The sutures are depressed and the aperture is terminal and slit-like.

Remarks: This species has a relatively large test size of up to 0.2x 1.5 mm. Specimens of this species form a major component of the agglutinate foraminifera in this study in all three cores, but a minor component (<5%) of the total benthic foraminiferal assemblage.

Life strategy: The genus Karreriella is epifaunal, unattached and prefers muddy sediments on the outer shelf to slope ( Murray, 2006).

Global stratigraphic range: Karreriella occurs from the Eocene to Recent ( Loeblich & Tappan, 1988).

Regional occurrence: This species is documented to occur in middle Miocene sediments of the Namibian outer continental shelf, south of the Kunene River mouth (this study).