Plectofrondicularia sp. C

Bergh, Eugene W. & Compton, John S., 2022, Taxonomy of Middle Miocene foraminifera from the northern Namibian continental shelf, Zootaxa 5091 (1), pp. 1-55 : 13

Plectofrondicularia sp. C

Pl. 2, fig. 3

Description: The test wall is calcareous. The test is flat, with a thin keeled periphery. The test slightly broadens midway, before narrowing again towards the apertural end. The sides of the test slightly widen and curve, where it narrows towards the apertural end. The initial stage protrudes more than the later stage chambers. Costae extend from the initial end to midway of the test.

Remarks: The test is more rounded than Plectofrondicularia spp. A and B. The tests are large (up to 0.5 mm in width and 3 mm in length), forming trace abundances (<1%) of the total foraminiferal assemblage.

Life strategy: Species of the genus Plectofrondicularia have been reported to be infaunal under suboxic conditions ( Pezelj et al., 2013 and references therein).

Regional occurrence: This species occurs in middle Miocene sediments on the northern Namibian outer continental shelf, south of the Kunene River mouth (this study). Wefer et al. (1998) recorded minor occurrences of Plectofrondicularia spp. in Miocene to Pleistocene-aged sediments along the western continental slope of southern Africa .