•DNITBD STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 215 



family placement of many of the genera is also modified. 

 Family and subfamily definitions are given, with 

 authors and dates cited, and with strict adherence to 

 the zoological Rules of Nomenclature in these higher 

 taxonomic categories as well as in generic and specific 

 names. 



Acknowledgments 



This paper is the result of an exceptional amount of 

 cooperation by paleontologists and organizations 

 throughout the world. We have received aid and en- 

 couragement in its preparation from many sources, by 

 the receipt of specimens and hterature, the loan of 

 types, aid in collecting material, and financial assistance 

 for the preparation of illustrations. 



In a study of this sort, it is imperative that the type 

 species be obtained for each genus. Many primary 

 types of these planktonic genera are present in the 

 U. S. National Museum collections, due to the gener- 

 osity of their authors, who have deposited primary 

 types here. These include the late Dr. J. A. Cushman, 

 the late W. J. Parr of Australia; and Drs. P. J. Ber- 

 mudez, Jusepln, Venezuela; W. H. Blow, London, 

 England; P. Bronnimann, Havana, Cuba; A. F. M. 

 Mohsenul Haque, Quetta, Pakistan; C. G. Lalicker, 

 McAUen, Texas; M. L. Natland, RoUing HiUs, CaU- 

 fornia; H. H. Renz, Caracas, Venezuela; and R. M. 

 Stainforth, Billings, Montana. 



In addition, particular specimens and samples have 

 been supplied by many others to whom we are exceed- 

 ingly grateful. These include Drs. R. Wright Barker, 

 Shell Development Company, Houston, Texas; F. Brot- 

 zen, Geological Survey of Sweden, Stockholm; Noel 

 Brown, Cuban Gulf Oil Company, Havana, Cuba; 

 A. C. Collins, Newtown, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; 

 N. de B. Hornibrook, New Zealand Geological Survey, 

 Wellington; V. Pokorn^, Charles University, Prague, 

 Czechoslovakia; M. Reichel, Basle, Switzerland; 

 J. Sigal, Institut de P^trole, Reuil-Malmaison, France; 

 Hans Thalmann, Stanford University, California; 

 David Ericson, Lamont Geological Observatory, Pali- 

 sades, New York; Frances Parker, Scripps Institution 

 of Oceanography, La JoUa, California; and W. Storrs 

 Cole, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 



Types were also loaned to us for study by other 

 institutions and we should like to acknowledge our 

 gratitude to Dr. Katherine Palmer and the Paleontologi- 

 cal Research Institute, Ithaca, New York, for the loan 

 of types from the Helen J. Plummer collection and Dr. 

 John Imbrie and Columbia University for the loan of 

 types from the Maynard White collection. 



In order to study the original types of Brady, d'Or- 

 bigny, Parker and Jones, and others, and to obtain 

 European topotype material, a visit to Europe was 

 imperative. We are therefore grateful to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution for making available the Walcott 

 funds to enable Alfred R. Loeblich, Jr., to spend 10 

 months studying and collecting in Europe, and to the 

 Guggenheim Foundation who similarly financed 10 

 months of study in museums, re-illustration of types, 



and field collecting in Europe by Helen Tappan Loeb- 

 Uch. During their stay in Europe, great assistance was 

 given to the LoebHchs by Dr. H. W. Parker, of the 

 British Museum (Natural History), London, who 

 allowed full access to the Brady and other collections 

 there, and through whom they were able to obtain 

 topotype material from the Challenger collections for 

 study and illustration. In Paris, through the courtesy 

 of Dr. Jean Roger, the original types of d'Orbigny 

 deposited in the Museum National d'Histoire NatureUe 

 were examined, studied, and compared with available 

 topotype material. 



Aid in the field, in collecting material used in the 

 present study from classic European locaUties was given 

 by Drs. H. Hiitermann and F. Schmid of the Amt fiir 

 Bodenforschung, Hannover, Germany, and in England 

 by Dr. Tom Barnard, Mr. Raymond Casey, and Mr. 

 A. G. Davis. Acknowledgement is also made of the 

 cooperation of Trinidad Leaseholds, Ltd., during the 

 time spent by Alfred R. Loeblich, Jr., in collecting in 

 Trinidad, B. W. I. 



Illustrations are shaded camera lucida drawings 

 prepared by Lawrence and Patricia Isham, scientific 

 illustrators, with the assistance of a grant-in-aid from 

 the Geological Society of America to re-iUustrate type 

 species of Foraminifera for use in the Treatise on 

 Invertebrate Paleontology. The camera lucida illustra- 

 tions of Brady's types of Hastigerina murrayi Thomson 

 were made at the British Museum by Helen Tappan 

 Loeblich. 



The authors are indebted to F. M. Bayer of the U. S. 

 National Museum and J. B. Saunders, Trinidad Lease- 

 holds, Ltd., for critical reading of sections of the manu- 

 script. 



The further progress of these planktonic studies at 

 the specific level is assured by the receipt of grants-in- 

 aid of research from certain petroleum companies for 

 the hire of laboratory technicians and artists. We 

 should, therefore, like to acknowledge this aid from the 

 California Research Corporation, the Carter Oil Com- 

 pany, the Gulf Oil Corporation, the Humble Oil and 

 Refining Company, and the Trinidad Oil Company, Ltd. 



Ecology of the Planktonic Foraminifera 



Pelagic animals are those which inhabit the free 

 water of the ocean. They must be independent of any 

 support except that of the water, and maintain them- 

 selves in the open water without sinking. A wide range 

 of life is represented in the pelagic zone, including not 

 only protozoans and microscopic plant Ufe, but also 

 ctenophores, cephalopods, copepod crustaceans, and 

 fish. Ecologically speaking, the pelagic life may be 

 subdivided into the nekton, which includes the animals 

 that can swim freely and are independent of oceanic 

 currents, and the plankton, which are only passively 

 floating or suspended forms, and whose independent 

 movement is insignificant in comparison with the move- 

 ment of the ocean currents. Most of the plankton is 



