BATHYMETRIC DISTRIBUTION AND MICROHABITAT PARTITIONING OF LIVE (ROSE-BENGAL STAINED) BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA ALONG A SHELF TO BATHYAL TRANSECTIN THE SOUTHERN ADRIATIC SEA

Rose Bengal stained foraminifera from box cores, collected in the sout hern Adriatic Sea along a transect ranging from 146 to 1,200 m water d epth, have been studied. Total numbers of supposedly deposit-feeding f oraminifera decrease in a fairly regular manner with increasing water depth and distance from land, probably as a consequence of a decreasin g flux of organic matter. Suspension-feeding astrorhizid taxa have an irregular distribution, apparently not related to water depth. Highest numbers of stained foraminifera are invariably found at the sediment surface, whereas numbers decrease exponentially deeper in the sediment . Although most species have maximum densities near the sediment surfa ce, a Pew of the rarer species are concentrated at deeper levels in th e sediment. The vertical distribution patterns of a number of common s pecies are variable with depth along the transect, apparently determin ed by several different environmental parameters.