Lithomelissa (?) hoplites Foreman, 1968, 1990

Trubovitz, Sarah, Renaudie, Johan, Lazarus, David & Noble, Paula, 2022, Late Neogene Lophophaenidae (Nassellaria, Radiolaria) from the eastern equatorial Pacific, Zootaxa 5160 (1), pp. 1-158 : 49

Lithomelissa (?) hoplites Foreman, 1968

Lithomelissa (?) hoplites n. sp., Foreman, 1968, pl. 3, figs. 2A–C.

? Tripodiscium sp. aff. Lithomelissa hoplites, Petrushevskaya and Kozlova, 1972 , pl. 7, fig. 2.

Remarks. It is not clear whether or not this species belongs in Lithomelissa . Although it has an apical spine passing freely through the cephalis, the elongated and tapering/undulating nature of the thorax, relatively small and poreless cephalis, nature of the pores and ridges on the thorax, and very strong appendages high up on the thorax, are together very unusual characteristics for this genus, and unlike any of the other lophophaenids we observed in this study. If it really does belong in Lithomelissa , to our knowledge this species would be the only member of this genus that dating back to the Cretaceous. Furthermore, if correctly assigned, this species would make Lithomelissa the oldest lophophaenid genus of those included in this manuscript.