Colonización de los foraminíferos bentónicos de la playa artificial de Ostende (Castro Urdiales, Cantabria)

Abstract

A total of 48 species of benthic foraminifera, 31 of them alive, have been extracted from the Ostende artificial beach (Castro Urdiales, Cantabria). The most abundant species are: Cibicidoides lobatulus and Cibicides refulgens accompanied by Elphidium crispum and Rosalina globularis. All of them are coastal and shelf marine epifaunal species. This microfauna has colonized the Ostende artificial beach 30 years after it was built. The beach was built from a gravel spill that destroyed the Urdiales Cove. The type of sediment used to fill the cove, seems to be the cause the delay of this foraminifera colonization. The main association of foraminifera is very similar to the one found in other nearby natural beaches. This indicates the transformation of the Ostende artificial beach into a consolidated “pocket-beach”. However, the lack of specimens of euryhaline benthic foraminifera highlights the definitive loss of transitional ecosystems, like the salt marsh that existed in the Urdiales Cove before it was filled.