Fistulipora prolifica Ulrich, 1884

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 : 158

Fistulipora prolifica Ulrich, 1884

( Figs 6 A-D; 7A, B; Appendix)

Fistulipora prolifica Ulrich, 1884: 45 , 46, pl. 3, fig. 2, 2a. — Trizna 1958: 41, 42, pl. 3, figs 5, 6.

MATERIAL. — SMF 23.112- SMF 23.118 (thin sections); SMF 23.119 (free colony).

OCCURRENCE. — Carboniferous, Mississippian (Visean); USA (Kentucky). Carboniferous, lower Visean; Kuznets Basin, Russia. Carboniferous, Mississippian (upper Visean); Roque Redonde (Montagne Noire, southern France).

DESCRIPTION

Encrusting, multilayered colony. Separate sheets in multilayered colony 1.05-4.30 mm thick. Autozooecia growing from thin epitheca, bending at their bases towards the colony surface. Basal diaphragms common to abundant, often inclined, concentrated usually in proximal parts of autozooecia. Autozooecial apertures circular to oval. Lunaria weakly developed. Vesicles moderately large, separating autozooecia usually in a single row, locally in 2 rows, 6-10 surrounding each autozooecia aperture, with rounded to flat roofs, polygonal in tangential section. Autozooecial walls granular prismatic, 0.010 -0.015 mm thick. Maculae present, consisting of vesicular skeleton, 0.9-2.4 mm in diameter, slightly elevated.

COMPARISON

Fistulipora prolifica Ulrich, 1884 differs from F. incrustans ( Phillips, 1836) from the Mississippian of British Isles in larger autozooecial apertures (average aperture width 0.39 mm vs 0.32 mm in F. incrustans ). Fistulipora prolifica differs from F. parvilabrum Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955 in larger and widely spaced autozooecial apertures (average autozooecial width 0.39 mm vs 0.29 mm in F. parvilabrum ; average autozooecial spacing 0.74 mm vs 0.56 mm in F. parvilabrum ).

Fistulipora cf. tubulosa Nikiforova, 1933 ( Fig. 7 C-F; Appendix)

Fistulipora tubulosa Nikiforova, 1933: 6 , pl. 1, figs 6, 7; 1948: 9, 10, pl. 1, figs 1, 2. — Nekhoroshev 1956: 9, 10, pl. 1, figs 1, 2. — Trizna 1958: 36, 37, pl. 1, figs 1-5.

MATERIAL. — SMF 23.120- SMF 23.130, TCD.60337.

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

DESCRIPTION

Encrusting colony, 1.5-2.3 mm thick. Autozooecia growing from thin epitheca, bending in the early exozone to the colony surface. Basal diaphragms absent or common, up to 5 in autozooecia, thin, concentrated usually in proximal parts of autozooecia. Autozooecial apertures circular to oval. Lunaria well-developed, triangular to horseshoe-shaped; ends of lunaria not indenting autozooecia.Vesicles moderately large, separating autozooecia in 1-2 rows, 7-14 surrounding each autozooecia aperture, with rounded roofs, polygonal in tangential section. Autozooecial walls granular prismatic, 0.010 -0.015 mm thick. Maculae present, consisting of vesicular skeleton.

COMPARISON

The present species is similar to Fistulipora tubulosa Nikiforova, 1933 from the Lower Carboniferous of Kazakhstan and Russia. The only difference is that the species from Montagne Noire was not found to produce a tubular colony like in previous records. However, tubular colonies are usually produced by encrusting of ephemeral substrates, which decay after death, and so such colonies are potentially encrusting also other kinds of substrate. Fistulipora tubulosa Nikiforova, 1933 described by Nikiforova (1948) (this work was finished by Nekhoroshev) has unusually small and abundant vesicles, 15-17 surrounding each autozooecial aperture (vs 7-14 in present material and 9-12 in the holotype). Fistulipora tubulosa is similar to F.djebaglinica Nikiforova, 1933 from the Mississippian of Turkestan, but differs from it in larger autozooecial apertures (aperture width 0.24-0.43 mm vs 0.25-0.28 mm in F. djebaglinica ).

Fistulipora parvilabrum Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955 ( Fig. 8 A-C; Appendix)

Fistulipora parvilabrum Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955: 61-64 , pl. 2, figs 1, 2.

MATERIAL. — SMF 21.770- SMF 21.772, TCD.60333, 60338, 60345.

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

DESCRIPTION

Encrusting to submassive colony, 1.56-3.35 mm thick. Autozooecia growing from thin epitheca, bending in the early exozone to the colony surface. Basal diaphragms common, 4-6 in each autozooecium, concentrated usually in proximal parts of autozooecia. Autozooecial apertures circular to oval. Lunaria well-developed, horseshoe-shaped; ends of lunaria not indenting autozooecia. Vesicles moderately large, separating autozooecia in 1-2 rows, 7-11 surrounding each autozooecia aperture, with rounded roofs, polygonal in tangential section. Autozooecial walls granular prismatic, 0.005 -0.010 mm thick.

COMPARISON

Fistulipora parvilabrum Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955 differs from F.incrustans ( Phillips, 1836) in smaller autozooecial apertures (average aperture width 0.29 mm vs 0.32 mm in F.incrustans ).

Figures

FIG. 6. — A-D, Fistulipora prolifica Ulrich, 1884; A, general view of a multilayered colony, SMF 23.119; B, longitudinal section though the multilayered colony, SMF 23.115; C-D, longitudinal section showing autozooecia with diaphragms and vesicular skeleton, SMF 23.115 (C), SMF 23.114 (D). Scale bars: A, 20 mm; B, 10 mm; C, D, 2 mm.

FIG. 7. — Fistulipora prolifica Ulrich, 1884; A-B, tangential section showing autozooecial apertures and vesicles, SMF 23.117; C-F, Fistulipora cf. tubulosa Nikiforova, 1933: C, longitudinal section,SMF 23.123; D, E, tangential section,SMF 23.124; F, tangential section showing autozooecial aperture with lunarium, SMF 23.124. Scale bars: A, 2 mm; B, E, 0.5 mm; C, D, 1 mm; F, 0.2 mm.

FIG. 8. — A-C, Fistulipora parvilabrum Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955; A, longitudinal section, SMF 21.770; B, tangential section, SMF 21.771; C, tangential section showing autozooecial aperture with lunarium, SMF 21.771. D, F, Fistulipora sana Trizna, 1958; D, longitudinal section, SMF 21.775; E, tangential section, SMF 21.774; F, tangential section showing autozooecial aperture with lunarium, SMF 21.774. G, Dybowskiella rotunda n. sp., holotype SMF 21.777. Scale bars: A, E, 1 mm; B, D, 0.5 mm, C, F, G, 0.2 mm.