Pseudoactinoporella Conrad 1970 (Family Bornetellaceae) revisited: A Lower Cretaceous corticated and capitulum-shaped, stalked Tethyan Dasycladale

Abstract

Based on material from the area of Rafsanjan, Central Iran (P.? iranica Bucur et al.), and southeastern France (type-species P. fragilis Conrad), the genus Pseudoactinoporella Conrad is revisedwith respect to thallusmorphology and suprageneric classification. Reported as possessing a cylindrical or presumably club-shaped thallus, Pseudoactinoporella was assigned to the tribe Salpingoporellinae. In fact, P.? iranica represents a species displaying a capitulum-shaped, stalked thallus whose original description refered to the stalk only. The stalk of P.? iranica shows a spinose aspect due to individualized laterals and is well calcified. The “head” (capitulum) only preserves a thin wall displaying a pattern of cup-like depressions each with a central pore communicating with the fully cemented interior and interpreted as a cortex. P. fragilis is typically presented by trumpet-shaped fragments belonging to the stalk and the transition to the unpreserved (eroded? uncalcified?) “head”. For both species, a goniosporate reproduction type (= ampullae disposed laterally along the ramifications) is assumed herein. Due to these characteristics, it appears reasonable to leave apart the generic uncertainty of P. iranica as expressed in the original description. Consequently, Pseudoactinoporella is removed from the Salpingoporellinae and assigned to the family Bornetellaceae and the tribe Bornetelleae.