N13

Liriospyris reticulata (Ehrenberg)

Dictyospyris reticulata Ehrenberg, 1872a, p. 307; 1872b. pl. 10, fig. 19

Amphispyris reticulata (Ehrenberg), Nigrini, 1967, p. 44, pl. 5, fig. 3

Amphispyris costata Haeckel, Nigrini, 1967, p. 45, pl. 5, fig. 4

Liriospyris reticulata (Ehrenberg), Goll, 1968, p. 1429, pl. 176, figs. 9, 11, 13

DESCRIPTION AND DIMENSIONS

"Sagittal ring "D-shaped" 60 to 77 microns high; 53 to 84 microns thick. Four to six pairs of sagittal-ring tubercles; one pair adjacent to a short vertical spine that projects from midpoint of sagittal ring. No frontal or axial spines. A few specimens have very short apical spine. In most skeletons, apical spine is absent. Some specimens have no lattice shell or connector bars; pairs of sagittal-ring spines project from tubercles. In skeletons having lattice shell, a pair of connector bars projects horizontally from slightly below top of front of sagittal ring; another pair of horizontal connector bars is adjacent to vertical spine. Very few specimens have primary-lateral bars; most skeletons have short primary-lateral spines; no other basal connector bars.

"No basal ring. Lattice shell suboval in basal view; 180 to 210 microns wide; 90 to 186 microns thick; smooth; surrounds front and back of sagittal ring. Four massive lattice bars, circular in cross section, and parallel to lateral axis; two of them joined to tubercles at front and back of base of sagittal ring, and two to tubercles at front and back of apex of sagittal ring. Laterally, these lattice bars reticulate to form short horizontal band of lattice shell perforated by subpolygonal lattice pores 5 to 17 microns in diameter. Two pairs of sagittal-lattice pores are a maximum of 55 microns in diameter..

"Representatives of Liriospyris reticulata differ from those of L. ovalis n. sp. in having four lattice bars that are joined to the sagittal ring; from the skeletons of L. globosa n. sp. in having paired sagittal-ring tubercles; and from specimens of L. mutuaria n. sp. and Tholospyris devexa (Goll, 1969) in having connector bars on the front and back of the sagittal ring. In skeletons of the type-species of Liriospyris, L. clathrata, the lattice shell is joined directly to the front and back of the sagittal ring, and sternal bars and sternal pores are lacking.

"On specimens of Liriospyris reticulata, the two lattice bars that are joined to the base of the sagittal ring are considered to be the homologues of the front and back of the basal ring of skeletons of L. globosa.

"Species included in the synonymy are distingiushed on the basis of variations in the lateral portions of the lattice shell or the absence of a lattice shell. I consider that most of these species represent various growth stages of Liriospyris reticulata." (from Goll, 1968).

Plate 19, figures 4a,b

N14

REMARKS

1. For a more complete synonymy see Goll, 1968. Goll (personal communication) regards A. costata (in Nigrini, 1967) as a growth stage or more complete preservation of A. reticulata. RECENT

DISTRIBUTION

1. Nigrini, 1967, fig. 22; "Indian Ocean occurrences - A. reticulata is sparsely distributed in low latitudes, and is almost entirely absent from middle latitudes. Maximum abundances (up to 3% of the described population) occur in the western tropics."

fig. 23; "Indian Ocean occurrences - A. costata is very sparsely distributed in low latitudes and is absent from samples taken south of 35 degrees S.

2. Goll, 1968; "... in all but one of the samples between WRTR 11 High [Trinidad] (middle Miocene) and DWBG 147 B, [1 degree 27minutes N, 116 degrees 13 minutes W], 4-7cm (Quaternary).