The Relationship of Planktonic Foraminiferal Populations to Water Masses in the Western Caribbean and Lower Gulf of Mexico

Characteristic living planktonic foraminiferal faunas from selected areas in the central and western Caribbean Sea, Cayman Sea, Yucatan Channel, and Straits of Florida have been defined, and their relationships within and between selected water masses described. Values for standing crop and per cent of total population have been calculated for fourteen species. Significant distributional patterns of populations and their relationships to discrete water masses within the area of study have been documented. A method is described whereby the occurrences of these forms may be used to infer the source region of selected water masses occurring within a dynamic hydrosystem, as exemplified by observations in the Straits of Florida and Yucatan Channel.