Recent infralittoral Foraminiferida and Ostracoda from the Porto Cesareo Lagoon (Ionian Sea, Mediterranean)

Recent benthic Foraminiferida (111 species, 45 genera) and Ostracoda (150 species, 43 genera) assemblages were studied. Samples were collected in the southern part of the Porto Cesareo Lagoon, on the south-western coast of Apulia, Ionian Sea. Thirty-two bottom samples were collected by hand at a water depth of 0.12 to 4.78 m. Assemblages are characteristic of marine infralittoral warm waters, in agreement with the previous records of benthic organisms with tropical affinity. Dominant taxa are either phytophilous or typical of sandy bottom. Abundance and diversity are controlled by environmental factors like the type of substrate, hydrodynamic conditions and distance from the open sea. Anthropic pollution negatively influences microfaunal assemblages only for a few dozens of meters away from the urbanized area.