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Hystrichosphaeridium irregulare*

Hystrichosphaeridium "?irregulare" (Merrill, 1895, p.16; text-fig.14) Sarjeant, 1964b, p.175.

Holotype: Merrill, 1895, text-fig.14.

Combination illegitimate - senior homonym: Hystrichosphaeridium irregulare Pocock, 1962. Substitute name: Hystrichosphaeridium speciale. Originally Geodia? irregularis (Appendix A), subsequently Hystrichosphaeridium irregulare (combination illegitimate), thirdly Hystrichosphaeridium? irregulare (combination illegitimate), fourthly Hystrichosphaeridium speciale. Questionable assignment: Stover and Evitt (1978, p.56) as a problematic species. Taxonomic senior synonym: Xanthidium tubiferum var. complex (now Oligosphaeridium complex), according to Harker and Sarjeant in Harker et al. (1990, p.59). Age: Early Cretaceous.

Original description (Merrill, 1895)
Spicule perfect. Body globular and smooth between the long spines. Spines are easily seen to be hollow tubes, variously terminated, but principally by short lateral projections near the end. Size: 0.1003 mm by 0.088 mm; length of spine, 0.0269 mm. Only one of this variety was found in the slides examined. I propose the name Geodia irregularis.
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