Peuplements actuels et thanatocénoses à Soritidae et Peneroplidae des Keys de Floride (USA)

In the sedimentary areas surrounding the Florida Keys, Soritidae and Peneroplidae are very well represented. These benthic foraminifera are generally attached to seagrasses or algae and more rarely to carbonate deposits. The colouring of their protoplasm results from the nature of endosymbiotic algae. The principal species represented are: Androsina lucasi (never recorded before in Florida) which lives only in the margino-littoral biotopes where the salinity is highly variable; Archaias angulatus and Amphisorus hemprichii which live in the biotopes of the littoral platform but also in those of the interior margin of the bay where the variations of salinity are weak; Cyclorbiculina compressa and Peneroplis proteus which live for the main part in the littoral biotopes of the oceanic platform where the salinity is normal and quite constant; five other species of secondary importance take the number of taxa observed alive in the Keys area up to ten. Moreover, if the comparison of the biocenoses and thanatocenoses emphasizes their comparative similitude, knowledge of the biocenoses permits a better understanding of their adaptation to present-day environments.