The response of benthic foraminifera to aquaculture and industrial pollution: A case study from the Northern Persian Gulf

The aquaculture and industrial sewage impacts on benthic foraminifera investigated at two reefs across the northern Persian Gulf. The foraminifera assemblages at a single sewaged reef were compared with two non-sewaged reefs. A low-diversity assemblage, dominated by stress-tolerant species Quinqueloculina sp. and larger symbiont-bearing Amphistegina sp., was characteristic of the industrial sewaged reef. The opportunistic species Ammonia sp. and Elphidium sp. were common in aquaculture sewaged reef. The density of foraminifera in sewaged reefs was lower than non-sewaged reefs. The lower diversity was only detected in the industrial sewaged reef. Assemblage structure was significantly different between sewaged and non-sewaged reefs. The industrial sewaged reef displayed high FORAM Index values (>4.0), reflecting favorable environments for supporting relatively healthy reefs. FORAM Index in aquaculture sewaged reef ranged from 2.0 to 4.0 indicated that the water with organic pollution may support living coral community, but any damage would not be followed by recovery.