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Stephodinium dianneae

Stephodinium dianneae Morgan, 1980

Tax. sr. synonym of Stephodinium daveyi Below, 1982, according to Lister and Batten, 1988.
Holotype: Morgan, 1980, pl.28, fig.1-4
Locus typicus: Santos Oodnadatta, Australia
Stratum typicum: Aptian-Early Albian

Original description: Morgan, 1980, p. 32
Cyst double walled, endophragm ambitus subcircular, periphragm ambitus rhombic; endophragm subspherical, 0.5-1.0 µm thick; periphragm closely appressed to endophragm except at Ihe cingulum and apex; apical horn hollow, conical, about 15 µm in base diameter and 10 µm high; paracingulum an inflated pericoel 5-12 µm high and 5-7 µm broad, strongly offset at the sulcus; periphragm bears non-tabular short solid spines 3-5 µm long, and parasutural ridges 0.5-1.0 µm high which may bear a few spines reflecting gonyaulacean tabulation; inflated cingulum bears paired parasutural ridges along the top spines absent from inflated apical horn and paracingulum except beneath the archeypyle; archeopyle precingular, periarcheopyle including the adjacent portion of the inflated cingulum; operculum free.

Affinities:
Morgan, 1980, p. 32: S. dianneae may be removed to a new genus in the future, as it differs from all descrihed species of Stephodinium by having dense intratabular spines, a narrower inflated cingulum, and by lacking high parasulcal crests. Stephodinium spiniferum Cookson and Eisenack 1965 has a few parasutural spines along the cingulum parasutures only. S. dianneae differs from spinose species of Gonyaulacysta by having an inflated paracingulum.
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