ABSTRACT
The foraminifera of the eastern seaboard of North America have been intensively studied from the earliest papers by Ehrenberg (1843) and Bailey (1851) until the present day. A bibliography covering the period up to 1980 has been drawn up by Culver (1980). Many of the earlier papers were taxonomic with little ecological detail. Ecological studies became a primary objective in the 1940s with the works of Parker and Phleger and, especially after 1952 when Walton introduced the rose Bengal staining method, living and dead or total assemblages were distinguished. A synthesis of the data on living foraminifera was provided by Murray (1973). Culver and Buzas (1980) have plotted the geographical occurrence of 149 taxa. Although useful, this would have gained much if depth data had been included.
