Portatrochammina bharatensis sp. nov., a new textulariid benthic foraminifer from Jaitapur Creek, Maharashtra, west coast of India, Arabian Sea

A new living multi-chambered textulariid benthic foraminifer belonging to genus Portatrochammina is here described from the Jaitapur Creek, Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra, India (Arabian Sea). The new species Portatrocham-mina bharatensis n. sp. is characterized by a low trochospiral, chamber arrangement, moderate size test (0.3–0.5 mm diameter), with 5–5.5 subglobular gradually enlarging chambers in the final whorl, and interiomarginal arched aperture with um-bilical flap partially covering axial depression. Molecular phylogenetic analysis, using partial small sub-unit rRNA (SSU rDNA) gene sequences shows the placement of this new species amongst other textulariids, and branches in a clade with P. pacifica and P. antarctica. Elemental characterization (SEM-EDS) of the agglutinated test wall reveals a preference for quartz min-eral grains (SiO₂ ) to construct its test. The species commonly occurs in marginal marine sediments along the west coast of India.