Non-spinose, very low trochospiral, large (>1 mm), flat on both sides, with 5-6 chambers in last whorl.

With
prominent keel (may be fimbriated), and broad lip over umbilical-extraumbilical aperture. Sutures straight
on apertural side, curved on spiral side. Pustules thick on older chambers and in front of aperture, smaller
towards periphery and on younger chambers. Calcite crust often visible, growing like pustules from older to
younger parts of test.

Ref.: Scott (1973), Adelseck (1975), Hemleben et al. (1977), Bouvier-Soumagnac and Duplessy
(1985), Healy-Williams et al. (1985), Schweitzer and Lohman (1991), Ravelo and Fairbanks (1995).

Distribution: In the southwestern South Atlantic (30-60S), this species is scarce, rarely exceeding 3% of
the entire foraminiferal assemblage (Boltovskoy et al., 1996). In contrast, it is abundant in the eastern
SouthAtlantic in the area of the Walvis Ridge, especially at 2143S, 525E, to the west of the Zaire
River mouth, and at the equator. Several authors consider Globorotalia menardii a rather common member
of the fauna in the tropical ocean (Jones, 1967; B, 1977); thus, maximum abundances at the equator are
quite typical. Its high abundances above the WalvisRidge (dominant in the cold Benguela Current) are
therefore inconsistent with its tropical distribution pattern. Globorotalia menardii is very rare in sediments
under the Benguela Current (Van Leeuwen, 1989). The reason for its high abundance in the water-column is
not yet clear. The speciesmight be transported by a southward-flowing subsurface current (Oberhnsli et al.,
1992) because its preferred depth habitat here appears to be the lower photic zone or some 50 m deeper
(e.g., 200-400 m).
As previously observed by Jones (1967), the depth distribution ofGloborotalia menardii indicates affinities
with the Equatorial Undercurrent, which flows along the equator at 50-100 m. Interestingly, a significant
number of "living" Globorotalia menardii were found at depths of 500-1000 m. This suggests a wider
depth habitat during ontogeny, as is common for deep living globorotaliids. However, expatriation
phenomena may be involved in this pattern as well, as in many other species in, for example, the Red Sea,
without showing the high salinity Red Sea signals in e.g. d18O (delta-18-O, or oxygen). In the western
South Atlantic thisspecies occurs in rather low numbers, seldom exceeding 3% of all foraminifers.

Remark
= Globorotalia cultrata