Porifera (Calcarea: Lithonida) from the Lower Miocene Batesford Limestone, Victoria, Australia, including a new species Monoplectroninia malonei sp. nov.

Abstract

An exceptional fauna of calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea) from the lowest biofacies of the Batesford Limestone (Lower Miocene), exposed in the Australian Portland Cement Quarry, Fyansford, near Geelong, southern Victoria, is reviewed. Four species have been recognised from this biofacies by the authors: Tretocalia pezica Hinde, 1900, Bactronella australis Hinde, 1900, Plectroninia halli Hinde, 1900 and a new species, Monoplectroninia malonei sp. nov., described and named in this paper. The original descriptions of Hinde’s species have been expanded to include a more comprehensive description of ontogeny.