Recent Foraminifera from the Chilka Lake, Orissa, East Coast of India

Chilka Lake is a brackish marine lagoon in the Orissa State, India. The Lake is divided into the Outer Channel, the Northern Sector, the Central Sector and the Southern Sector for the present study. A total of eighty eight species of foraminifera have been identified from the Chilka Lake. Asterorotalia inflata, A. Trispinosa, Cibicides lobatulus, Nonion grateloupi, Pararotalia nipponica, Ammobaculites exiguous, Miliammina fusca, M. fusca var. , Quinqueloculina seminulum, Ammonia beccarii, A. Tepida, Elphidium craticulatum and Nonion deprssulus are abundant occurecne. Although the endemic species tolerate wide fluctuations in ecological variables, their reproduction is active under conditions of salinity from 30.0 to 40.0 and temperature from 270 to 320 C. Faunal sequences obtains from Outer Channel to the inner lake and from Northern Sector through Central Sector to Southern Sector, Miliammina fusca dominating in the Outer Channel and Quinqueloculina seminulum, the Central and Southern Sectors.