FAMILY TRIPLOPORELLACEAE

TRIBE SALPINGOPORELLEAE

SUB-TRIBE SALPINGOPORELLINAE

GENUS Physoporella STEINMANN 1903

SPECIES Physoporella zamparelliae PARENTE et CLIMACO 1999

(by M. Parente)

1. Synonymy list

1997    Andrusoporella duplicata.- Climaco et alii, Pl. 16, fig. 12 & 13 pars

1999    Physoporella zamparelliae n. sp.- Parente & Climaco, Pl. 37, fig. 1-10; Pl. 38, fig. 6 & 9-10; Pl. 39, fig. 1 pars

2. Types

holotype: Pl. 37, fig. 1, thin section N° AC554.15 ; isotypes : Pl. 37, fig. 1-4 & 6-7, V. Zamparelli Collection, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Napoli "Federico II" (Italy)

type locality: Mte Rotonda, E Maratea, Basilicata (Italy)

stratum typicum: Upper Triassic, Norian

3. Diagnosis

original diagnosis (Parente & Climaco, 1999): « Calcareous skeleton simple, undulated, made by partly welded thin individual sheaths enclosing the laterals. The median and distal outer surface of the sheaths is pitted by many small alveoles. Some individual sheaths end with a spine-like apophysis opening outward with a thin pore. Central cavity bordered by a thin "inner wall", sometimes finely perforated. Laterals perpendicular to the central stem axis, arranged in closely spaced simple whorls, alternating in subsequent whorls. Laterals piriferous, vertically compressed, roughly triangular both in vertical and in verticillar section. Reproductive organs unknown, probably cladospore and located in the swollen, proximal part of laterals. »

4. Description

original description (Parente & Climaco, 1999): « General characters of the calcareous skeleton. The calcareous skeleton of Physoporella zamparelliae n. sp. consists of individual sheaths enclosing the laterals. The sheaths are usually preserved as a mosaic of clear crystals. The lumen within each sheath is either filled by micrite or lined by a micritic rim and filled by more or less clear cement.

Close to the central cavity the individual sheaths of laterals lying next in the same whorl and in adjacent whorls are welded. Moving outward, the space between individual sheaths is filled by micrite or by a microcrystalline mosaic appearing dark brown to orange in thin section. At the outer surface of the skeleton the individual sheaths of laterals are separated by furrows partly filled by an irregular micritic rim. Therefore the outer surface of the skeleton is undulated, with swellings corresponding to the whorls of laterals and furrows separating adjacent whorls. For the same reason transversal sections are characterised by a star-shaped outline (Pl. 37/7): the distal tips of the individual sheaths of laterals in a whorl are separated by furrows.

The distal outer surface of the sheaths is pitted by many small alveoles (Pl. 37/5, 9-10; Pl. 38/9). In tangential sections, showing transversal sections of the laterals, there are about 15-20 alveoles per lateral.

In some specimens a spine-like thin apophysis is preserved at the apex of some individual sheaths (Pl. 37/8; Pl. 38/6, 10). A thin pore is sometimes visible at the center of this apophysis.

In nearly all our specimens of Physoporella zamparelliae n. sp. the central cavity is bordered by a thin "inner wall", preserved as a mosaic of clear crystals. In most of the specimens this "inner wall" is imperforate (Pl. 37/1, 3, 4, 5, 7) but in very few specimens it is perforated by regularly and closely spaced thin (10-15 µm) canals, perpendicular to the central stem axis. These canals are not obviously related to the laterals: in longitudinal section at least 4-5 such thin perforations open outward in a single wide pore corresponding to the proximal portion of a lateral (Pl. 38/10). For this reason we suppose that the "inner wall" formed inside the central stem.

The inner diameter of the calcareous skeleton (d), taken at the outer surface of the "inner wall", is 200-700 µm (430 ± 119 µm). The thickness of the "inner wall" (t) is 25-88 µm (63 ± 17 µm). The thickness of the calcareous skeleton (e), from the outer surface of the "inner wall" to the outer surface of the calcareous skeleton, is 175-475 µm (351 ± 77 µm), in specimens lacking the spine-like apophyses. The outer diameter of the calcareous skeleton (D), leaving out the spine-like apophyses when present, is 550-1550 µm (1129 ± 251 µm) (Tab. 5).

The laterals. Physoporella zamparelliae n. sp. is characterised by primary laterals arranged in simple whorls and alternating in subsequent whorls. The number of laterals per whorl (w) is 7-14 (10 ± 2). The distance between subsequent whorls (h) is 125-300 µm (241 ± 51 µm).

The laterals are nearly perpendicular to the central stem axis but in some specimens provided with spine-like apophyses these are slightly bent upward (Pl. 38/6). The laterals are piripherous with a wide proximal portion lying onto the "inner wall" bordering the central cavity. Both the vertical and the verticillar sections of the laterals are roughly triangular in shape. The vertical width of the proximal part of the laterals (pr_max) is 75-250 µm (179 ± 51 µm). The verticillar width (pv_max) is 100-150 µm (125 ± 18 µm). The transversal section of the laterals is circular to elliptical vertically compressed.

In some specimens the pores corresponding to the proximal part of the laterals are partly fused, forming an irregular cavity around the inner wall (Pl. 37/5). Each lateral is enclosed by an individual sheath. This sheath is rather thin (20-40 µm) but thickens at its apex making a kind of helmet that sometimes supports a spine-like apophysis.

The lenght of the pores enclosed by the individual sheaths (l) is 200-350 µm (270 ± 44 µm). In specimens with spines the sheaths of the laterals can be up to 700-800 µm long.

Reproductive organs. The reproductive organs of Physoporella zamparelliae n. sp. were probably uncalcified and cladospore, located in the swollen proximal part of the laterals. »

Measurements (see above)

5. Remarks

6. Stratigraphic range

Norian (Parente & Climaco, 1999)

7. Real distribution

Italy (Parente & Climaco, 1999)

8. Paleoecology