The presence of the Indo-Pacific symbiont-bearing foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera in Greek coastal ecosystems (Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean)

During the last decades, hundreds of species of Indo-Pacific origin from the Red Sea have traversed the Suez Canal and settled in the Eastern Mediterranean. Nowadays, Amphistegina lobifera Larsen, the most common epiphytic, symbiont- bearing large foraminifer, is known to be a successful immigrant that is widely distributed in the coastal ecosystems of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we provide additional sites of occurrences on distributional range and settlement of A. lobifera in the Greek coastal ecosystems. The high relative abundances recorded are the result of very successful inhabitation of this species in the Aegean ecosystems and suggest that it has become significant part of the epiphytic foraminiferal fauna