PUGET SOUND FORAMINIFERA: AMMONIA BECCARII, THEIR MUTATIONS AND SEASONAL POPULATIONS

Ammonia beccarii is a calcareous benthic foraminifera commonly observed in shallow water, low oxygen, and hypersaline environments around the world. This study will provide a brief history and analysis of the morphology of Ammonia beccarii, in addition to highlighting the varieties of mutations and their abundances in populations taken in July 2020, and the preliminary observations of the populations taken in January of 2022 from Budd Inlet of the Puget Sound. Several severe mutations of this species have been noted within these populations. The July samples possess a significant presence of mutated individuals, while the January samples, collected in winter, are expected to show very low diversity and represent baseline populations. Herein we will discuss the morphology and mutations found in Ammonia beccarii with the help of the modern day studies done on samples taken from the Puget Sound, with comparison between winter and summer populations, to better understand the morphologies and mutations in heavily impacted shallow inlet environments over space and time.