Polyentactinia Foreman, 1963 sensu Seo & Won (2009)

Noble, Paula, Aitchison, Jonathan C., Danelian, Taniel, Dumitrica, Paulian, Maletz, Jörg, Suzuki, Noritoshi, Cuvelier, Jessie, Caridroit, Martial & O’Dogherty, Luis, 2017, Taxonomy of Paleozoic radiolarian genera, Geodiversitas 39 (3), pp. 419-502 : 456-457

Polyentactinia Foreman, 1963 sensu Seo & Won (2009)

Polyentactinia Foreman, 1963: 281 . — Seo & Won 2009: 66.

TYPE SPECIES. — Polyentactinia craticulata Foreman, 1963 ( Foreman 1963: 281, pl. 5, fig. 3a-b, pl. 9, fig. 5a-b).

AGE AND LOCATION OF TYPE MATERIAL. — Upper Devonian, Huron member, Ohio Shale, USA.

TAXON CODE. — 161.

STATUS. — Valid.

DIAGNOSIS. — “A lattice-shell with angular meshes encloses a double spicule with six or more than six rays. This genus differs from Stigmosphaera Haeckel (1887: 68) in that the radial rays do not originate from a central point, but rather from an eccentric median bar. Rüst (1892: 135) used the name Stigmosphaera for a species with six rays originating from a central point, a second species in which eight or more rays originate from a central point, and a third in which the rays originate from each end of an eccentric median bar. It seems desirable, however, to restrict the name Stigmosphaera to species falling within Haeckel’s original generic definition.” ( Foreman 1963: 281).

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. — “A very thin, layered, spongy shell with latticed base opened by a large pylome that has a rounded rim. An internal spicule consisting of seven rays and one thorn-like, very short remnant ray directed to the opening of the pylome.” ( Seo & Won 2009: 66).

REMARKS

Seo & Won (2009), upon re-examining material from Foreman’s locality in Ohio Shale, revised the genus based on their observation that the type species belonged in the Pylentonemidae and was quite different from all of the other taxa assigned to this genus. Consequently, Polyentactinia , which had become something of a “garbage can” taxon, is now a monotypic genus and the remaining species have been reassigned to various genera in the Entactiniidae & Archaeospicularia .