Back
Phelodinium gaditanum

Phelodinium gaditanum (Riegel, 1974, p.356–357, pl.2, figs.8–9; pl.3, figs.1–2) Lentin and Williams, 1981, p.223. Emendation: Riegel and Sarjeant, 1982, p.297–299, as Phelodinium gaditanum.

Originally Deflandrea, subsequently Senegalinium, thirdly Lejeunia (combination illegitimate), fourthly Lejeunecysta, fifthly (and now) Phelodinium. Riegel and Sarjeant (1982, p.297) also proposed this combination.

Holotype: Riegel, 1974, pl.2, figs.8–9; Riegel and Sarjeant, 1982, fig.7D.
Age: ?Senonian.

Original diagnosis: Riegel, 1974, p.356: Deflandrea gaditana
Outline rounded pentagonal with indented base, width about equal to total length. The apical and two equal antapical horns distinct but very short. Capsule completely filling the cyst body, occasionally extending into the horns. Girdle faint, almost straight, lined by low ledges or tubercles. Sulcus broad, lined by compression folds. Large intercalary archeopyle triangular with truncated corners. Both walls very thin and smooth.
Holotype: Size: Total length 68µm; body length 52µm; width 63µm.

Original description: Riegel, 1974, p.356-357: Deflandrea gaditana
The body exclusive of horns is considerably wider than long and rounded pentagonal in outline with the base more or less deeply indented. The apical horn is a short conical, rarely tubular extension of the outer wall. The two antapical horns are approximately equal in size and have the shape of low three-sided pyramids slightly pointing outward. The distance between them about equals the length of the hypotract. In several specimens the bases of all three horns are somewhat thickened.
The capsule completely fills the cyst body often extending into the bases of horns. Only in a few specimens the capsule appears to fill the horns completely and can therefore not be recognized. Capsule and outer wall are closely adhering except for the horns.
The girdle region is usually marked by large secondary folds. The girdle itself is inconspicuous and hardly ever indented, but bordered by minute ledges or single rows of small tubercles about 5Á apart. They surround the cyst about midway in a straight to slightly sinuous, but not clearly helicoidal path and blend into the sulcus ventrally. The sulcus is about three times as broad as the girdle and marked only by two more or less longitudinal compression folds.
The large intercalary archeopyle, involving capsule as well as outer wall, has the shape of an even-sided triangle with truncated corners occupying the greater part of the dorsal epitract. The very thin walls, totalling less than 1 µm, are usually somewhat wrinkled, light brown in colour and in some cases faintly freckled.
Dimensions: Range of total length: 49-54 µm; mean 61µm. Range of capsule length: 40-67µm, mean: 49.6 µm. Range of width: 55-76 µm; mean: 62.7 µm. 24 specimens measured.

Emended diagnosis: Riegel and Sarjeant, 1982, p.299
Cyst proximate, cornucavate, the cavation being confined exclusively to the horns. Ambitus of central body broadly rounded -pentagonal: epitract almost hemispherical, hypotract in the form of a truncated cone. Apical and antapical horns short, often folded or distorted and composed of periphragm only, though sometimes the endophragm protrudes a little into the horn bases; the horns are of closely similar length, the apical horn typically blunt-tipped. Paracingulum almost planospiral, faintly defined by low ridges or tubercles; parasulcus broader, defined by folds. Intercalary archaeopyle of standard hexa type, formed by loss of intercalary paraplate 2a; it is large, extending almost to the paracingulum, and appears to penetrate both wall layers. Operculum free or retaining some degree of antapical attachment.
Dimensions: Holotype: overall length 68 µm, length of endoblast 52 µm, width 63 µm. Figured specimen: overall length 82 µm, length of endoblast 63 µm, width 67 µm. Range of dimensions: overall length 49--84 µm (mean 61.7 µm), length of endoblast 40--67µm (mean 49.6 µm), width 55--76 µm (mean 62.7 µm). 24 specimens measured.

Affinities:
Riegel, 1974, p.357: Deflandrea gaditana
D. gaditana can be most closely compared with D. ventriosa Alberti, 1959 and D. microgranulata Stanley, 1965 mainly on the basis of the large capsule, small horns and thin wall. D. gaditana, however, is clearly distinct from both by the presence of two equal antapical horns. Further distinctive features are the size and shape of the archeopyle, the smaller ratio of length to width, the light brown colour and the occasionally thickened bases of the horns. The specimen figured by Drugg (1967, pl. 1, fig. 16) as Lejeunia sp. has great superficial resemblance, but apparently lacks a capsule.
Feedback/Report bug