摘要：Abundance and distribution of benthic Foraminifera, in the Northern Oman Sea (Iranian side) continental shelf sediments was studied. Sediment samples were gathered in Winter 2006, from eight stations ranging in depth from 30 to 103 m. Environmental conditions including water depth, temperature, dissolved oxygen , salinity, pH, grain size, total organic matter and calcium carbonate concentration were measured and their relationship with the distribution of benthic foraminifera was discussed. Forams were the most abundant meiobenthic group in nearby all the stations. The suborder ROTALIINA was dominant in the northern region while LAGENINA, MILIOLINA and TEXTULARIINA, were being abundant in the northwest region too. LAGENINA were being very abundant in the stations with higher depth. From the total 40 species belonging to 24 genera, Ammonia beccarii was common in the whole research region. Water depth, salinity and substrate seemed to be the most important environmental factors controlling the distribution of benthic foraminifera. None or rare structural abnormal and oil polluted individuals, in nearby all stations, leading to the clean benthic environment of the Oman Sea benthic zone.
