Neovermilia gundstrupensis sp. nov. (Polychaeta, Serpulidae) from the Selandian (middle Paleocene) of Fyn, Denmark

Abstract

Tubes of a new serpulid species, Neovermilia gundstrupensis sp. nov., from the lower part of the Kerteminde Marl Formation (Selandian, middle Paleocene) of Gundstrup gravel pit, Fyn, Denmark, represent the first serpulids of this group from the Selandian of Denmark. Within the long-ranging genus Neovermilia (Oxfordian to Recent), the new finds extend the last recorded occurrence of an informal sub-group of closely related serpulids from the upper Danian to the lower Selandian. Neovermilia gundstrupensis is characterized by a tube increasing only slowly in diameter reaching up to approximately 5 mm and possessing small, often densely spaced annular striae occasionally merging into weakly but never strongly developed annular peristomes. Almost all specimens found so far are attached to siliceous sponges of the genus Ventriculites. The tube morphology of the new species and the microstructure of the tube wall, as well as its palaeoecology are discussed.