Algal substratum preferences of the alien foraminiferan Amphistegina lobifera in shallow water

The Lessepsian foraminiferan Amphistegina lobifera is particularly numerous on algae in shallow water. We sampled foraminiferans from three algae (Cystoseira spp., Padina pavonica and Halopteris sp.) within the 0.75 - 2.0 m depth zone from five different sites around the island of Malta. There was a significant difference in the population density of live Amphistegina between the algae studied with Halopteris being preferred to Padina and with very sparse populations on Cystoseira.peer-reviewe