Terebratula terebratula ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Bitner, Maria Aleksandra & Moissette, Pierre, 2003, Pliocene brachiopods from north-western Africa, Geodiversitas 25 (3), pp. 463-479 : 468-469

Terebratula terebratula ( Linnaeus, 1758) ( Fig. 3 ; Table 3)

Terebratula calabra Seguenza, 1871: 64 , pl. 5, figs 5-8. — Gaetani & Saccà 1985a: 7-9, text-figs 5-7, pl. 1, figs 7-12; pl. 3, figs 6-10. — Taddei Ruggiero 1994: 206, pl. 1, figs 3-5.

Terebratula terebratula – Bitner & Martinell 2001: 181, fig. 3M-T. — Lee et al. 2001: 89-91, figs 6-9.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 33 complete specimens, 17 ventral valves, and 9 dorsal valves from Algeria: LP- MNHN B.38649-B.38657, B.38671, B.38672, B.38674-B.38680, B.38682, B.38684, B.38685; 10 complete specimens, two ventral valves, and five dorsal valves from Morocco: LP-MNHN B.38314, B.38315 (for detailed localities see also Table 1).

OCCURRENCE. — This species is known from the late Miocene and Pliocene of the Mediterranean region.

REMARKS

This large species (max. length 53.1 mm) is the commonest brachiopod in the studied material. It is also very common in the Pliocene deposits throughout the Mediterranean region ( Pajaud 1976, 1977; Gaetani & Saccà 1985a; Encinas 1992; Encinas & Martinell 1992; Taddei Ruggiero 1994, 1996; Bitner & Martinell 2001; Lee et al. 2001). The investigated specimens, although poorly preserved, often broken and/or crushed, correspond well to those described by the previous authors. The shell is variable in outline, from elongate oval to subcircular (see Fig. 3E, G ). The shell surface is smooth with numerous growth lines visible. The valves are nearly equal in depth. The anterior commissure varies from slightly uniplicate to sulciplicate. This species has a large, circular, permesothyrid foramen and partly visible symphytium. The brachidium has not been preserved in any specimens but cardinalia with a prominent cardinal process and narrow outer hinge plates ( Fig. 3I ) are typical of the genus. The nomenclatural problem of the large Terebratula species and the validity of the name T. terebratula were already discussed ( Gaetani & Saccà 1985a; Lee & Brunton 1998; Bitner & Martinell 2001). In their recent paper Lee et al. (2001) summarised the long and complex history of T. terebratula from 1616, and presented the relationships of species currently included in Terebratula .

This species was already noted, under different names ( T. ampulla Brocchi, 1814 , T. biplicata Brocchi, 1814 , T. sinuosa Brocchi, 1814 ), from Algeria and Morocco by other authors (e.g., Welsch 1888; Fischer & Oehlert 1891; Ficheur 1896c, d; Dalloni 1915; Lecointre 1926; Yassini 1973, 1979; Ben Moussa 1994).

Figures

FIG. 3. — Terebratula terebratula (Linnaeus, 1758); A-F, Douera, Algeria (LP-MNHN B.38650); A-D, ventral, dorsal, lateral and anteri- or views of complete specimen; E, F, dorsal and lateral views of complete specimen; G, dorsal view of complete specimen, Draria, Algeria (LP-MNHN B.38654); H, I, Algiers, between Mustapha inférieur and Bir Mourad Raïs, Algeria (LP-MNHN B.38675); H, inner view of the ventral valve, visible is concave symphytium and massive teeth; I, inner view of complete specimen, showing a prominent cardinal process and narrow outer hinge plates. Scale bars: 1 cm.