FAMILY DIPLOPORACEAE

TRIBE DIPLOPOREAE

GENUS Diplopora (SCHAFHÄUTL 1863) GÜVENÇ 1979

SPECIES Diplopora sinica BUCUR et ENOS 2001

(by I.I. Bucur)

1. Synonymy list

2001 Diplopora sinica n. sp.- Bucur & Enos, Pl. 4, fig. 1-18

2. Types

holotype: Pl. 4, fig. 10, sample HY 46, I.I. Bucur collection, Geology-Paleontology Department, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca (Romania)
"isotypes": Pl. 4, fig. 6, 8-9, 13 & 16, sample HY 46, I.I. Bucur collection, Geology-Paleontology Department, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca (Romania)

type locality: Hongyan section, near Guanling, Guizhou province (China)

stratum typicum: About 150m above the base of the Longtou Formation, Upper Anisian

3. Diagnosis

original diagnosis for Diplopora sinica (Bucur & Enos, 2001): « Cylindrical, unsegmented and unbranched thallus. Trichophorous branches displayed in four-fold tufts around the axial channel (metaspondyle type) at relatively large intervals. At the base of the tufts of branches, a simple vestibule can commonly be observed. The variable degree of calcification gives rise to a slight intusannulation in some specimens. »

4. Description

original description for Diplopora sinica (Bucur & Enos, 2001): « In longitudinal sections that cross two of the four branches of the tufts divergently displayed, the presence of simple vestibules at the base of the branches produces an intusannulated aspect (pl. 4, figs. 1-3, 14 and 16), so that this alga is reminiscent of Oligoporella. The difference is obvious where the tufts of branches are obliquely or tangentially crossed (pl. 4, figs. 5-11). In these sections it is clear that tufts with four branches are present (pl. 4, fig. 8), and thus the specimens belong to a metaspondyle dasyclad. The trichophorous aspect of the branches (pl. 4, figs. 1-3, 6, 11-13 and 16-18) places this form within the genus Diplopora. The calcification is variable and it usually affects the axial cell (pl. 4, figs. 5, 10, 12, 15 and 17). The tuft of branches is directly connected to the axial cell (pl. 4, fig. 10, holotype) or shows a simple vestibule at the base. The vestibule probably results from the lack of calcification of the space between the branches in the basal part of the tufts, where the branches join (text-fig. 5). These vestibules produce the intusannulated aspect of some specimens in longitudinal or oblique sections (pl. 4, figs. 1-3, 6 and 13). »

Measurements (in mm):

D = 0.68 -1.70 (median = 1.23)
d = 0.33 - 1.10 (0.68)
d/D = 0.37 - 0.68 (0.52)
h = 0.35 - 0.50
p = 0.08- 0.15
l = 0.20 - 0.40
Number of branches in a tuft = 4
Number of tufts in a transverse section = 10 to 12

5. Remarks

6. Stratigraphic range

Upper Anisian (Bucur & Enos, 2001)

7. Real distribution

China (Bucur & Enos, 2001)

8. Paleoecology

10. Reference

BUCUR I.I., ENOS P. (2001) -
Middle Triassic dasyclad algae from Guizhou, China.- Micropaleontology, New York, Vol. 47, N° 4, p. 317-338, 7 pl. (1-7).