ABSTRACT: We describe single-chambered (monothalamous), soft-shelled, benthic foraminifera from the lower oxygen-border zone to the upper hydrogen-sulfide-border zone (120 – 240m water depth) in theNWBlack Sea. The transect is situated inside the field of active methane seeps associated with the submarine Dnieper Canyon, although none of the samples are from the seeps themselves. Within this depth range, monothalamous foraminifera were more numerous than hard-shelled, multichambered taxa. Both groups reached their highest abundance between 150 and 170m,with a sharp peak at 160m.Atotal of 40 informal groupings (morphospecies or morphotypes) and one described species, of monothalamous foraminifera, either organic-walled ‘allogromiids’ or agglutinated ‘saccamminids’, was recognised. In all studied samples, they were found within the surficial detritus layer as well as the underlying 0-1cm sediment layer.

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