Ramiporalia Schulga-Nesterenko, 1933

Ernst, Andrej, Wyse Jackson, Patrick N. & Aretz, Markus, 2015, Bryozoan fauna from the Mississippian (Visean) of Roque Redonde (Montagne Noire, southern France), Geodiversitas 37 (2), pp. 151-213 : 168-170

Genus Ramiporalia Schulga-Nesterenko, 1933

TYPE SPECIES. — Ramiporalia dichotoma Schulga-Nesterenko, 1933 by original designation. Lower Permian ; Northern Urals .

DIAGNOSIS. — Colonies consisting of bifoliate dichotomous branches. Autozooecia hemispherical in transverse section at mesotheca, growing in two to five rows on each side of the mesotheca. Apertures with lunaria. Thin mesotheca protruding as ridge on the circular reverse side and as sharp keel on peaked obverse side. Thin-walled autozooecia usually separated by vesicular skeleton. Vesicles small in endozone and in inner exozone.

OCCURRENCE. — Carboniferous; Europe, North America, Australia.

COMPARISON

Ramiporalia Schulga-Nesterenko, 1933 differs from Goniocladia Etheridge, 1876 in having freely branching colony instead of reticulate one in the latter genus. Ramiporalia differs from Ramipora Toula, 1875 in having freely branching colony instead of pinate one with secondary and tertiary branches deriving from the main branch in the latter genus. Furthermore, mesotheca in Ramiporalia protrudes only on the celluliferous side as low cairna, whereas mesotheca in Ramopora protrudes both on celluliferous and non-celluliferous sides.

Ramiporalia robusta Delvolve & McKinney, 1983 ( Figs 14 F-H, 15A-D, 16A-C; Appendix)

Ramiporalia robusta Delvolve & McKinney, 1983: 327 , 328, pl. 2, figs 8, 9, text-fig. 3.

MATERIAL. — SMF 21.838- SMF 21.848, TCD.60336, 60337, 60338, 60341, 60343.

OCCURRENCE. — Carboniferous, Mississippian (upper Visean); Roque Redonde (Montagne Noire, southern France). Carboniferous, Mississippian (Serpukhovian); Pyrénées, France.

DESCRIPTION

Reticulate colony consisting of anastomosing bifoliate branches. Branches 1.23-3.67 mm wide and 0.49-1.64 mm thick. Autozooecia tubular, semicircular in transverse section at their bases, relatively short, budding in 5-7 rows from each side of thin mesotheca, opening on both sides of the median carina. Basal diaphragms rare. Mesotheca consisting of granularprismatic material, 0.02-0.03 mm thick. Autozooecial apertures arranged regularly in 5-7 diagonal rows on both sides of a median carina, rounded, having 0.030-0.45 mm thick peristome.Lunaria moderately developed, directed proximally. Autozooecial walls 0.005 -0.010 mm thick, granular-prismatic. Extrazooecial skeleton consisting of columnar calcite crystals oriented perpendicularly to the colony surface.Vesicular skeleton moderately developed, consisting of low small vesicles with flattened roofs, concentrated mostly in endozone.

COMPARISON

Ramiporalia robusta Delvolve & McKinney, 1983 differs from R. symmetrica McKinney, 1972 from the Mississippian of Alabama, USA, in thicker branches and larger distances between aperture centres (0.36-0.54 mm vs 0.25-0.50 mm in R. symmetrica ).

Order TREPOSTOMATA Ulrich, 1882 Suborder AMPLEXOPORINA Astrova, 1965 Family STENOPORIDAE Waagen & Wentzel, 1886

Figures

FIG. 14. — A-E, Sulcoretepora parallela (Phillips, 1836); A, deep tangential section, SMF 21.824. B, tangential section, SMF 21.824; C, tangential section, SMF 21.837; D, longitudinal section,SMF 21.827. E, branch transverse section, SMF 21.833; F-H, Ramiporalia robusta Delvolve & McKinney, 1983, branch transverse section, SMF 21.843. Scale bars: A, B, D, G, 0.5 mm; C, E, H, 0.2 mm; F, 1 mm.