NO. I FORAMINIFERA IN LONG ISLAND SOUND BUZAS II 



Statistical Significance of Numbers of Individuals 

 as Related to the Wet Volume of Samples 



The sediment-water interface in most parts of L.I.S. is a transi- 

 tional boundary. When a few centimeters of water above the core are 

 decanted, often much of it is sediment-laden. The actual wet volume 

 then is variable even though care is taken to remove only 1 cm. of 

 core. Therefore, the wet volume was determined for all samples. 

 The number of individuals in the living and total populations of the 

 sample pairs was corrected to a wet volume of 10 ml. The value of 

 x was then calculated for the corrected number of individuals in the 

 living and total populations. The results are shown on the right side 

 of table 2. The values of x that were significant in the original 

 sample pairs remained so. In addition, the corrected number of 

 living individuals in the pairs 102-102' and 129-129' as well as the 

 corrected number of total individuals in the pairs 10-10' and 104-104' 

 became significant. The reward hardly seems to justify the effort, 

 and for practical purposes the samples can be considered to be of 

 equal volumes without any serious error. 



Summary of Significance of a Foraminiferal Sample 

 In summary, the analyses of 12 paired samples indicates : 



1. The proportions of the species investigated are more homo- 

 geneous in the living population than in the total population. 



2. The number of living individuals at a station can be more 

 reliably estimated than the total number of individuals. 



3. The offshore areas are more homogeneous and the number of 

 individuals at a station can be more reliably estimated than in the 

 near-shore areas. 



4. Samples can be considered to be of equal volume without any 

 serious error. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE FORAMINIFERA 



Conclusions regarding the distribution of the Foraminifera are 

 based on population counts made on 161 samples from 130 stations. 

 Table 3 (page 72) tabulates the percent of each species in the living 

 (L) and total (T) populations at each station. 



General Aspects of the Fauna 



Twenty-three species belonging to fifteen genera were found in L. 

 I.S. Most of the species have living representatives, but the species 



