S123

Octopyle stenozona Haeckel

Octopyle stenozona Haeckel, 1887, p. 652, pl. 9, fig. 11; Benson, 1966, p. 251, pl. 16, figs. 3-4

DESCRIPTION

"Test subquadrate in outline, with one complete system of inner dimensive girdles with elliptical outline in frontal view and with the second transverse girdle complete as well as most of the second lateral girdle; the lateral girdle has short spines or thorns, parallel to the sagittal axis extending from it in the region of the poles of the prinicipal axis, suggestive of a rudimentary second sagittal girdle; however, no specimens from the Gulf were observed with this girdle. Second transverse and lateral girdles very narrow, with large unequal pores separated by heavy intervening bars; surface of both girdles with short, stout spines or thorns, unbranched distally. Test typically with a pair of heavy, cylindrical beams, oppositely placed, coaxial with the principal axis of the test, each arising from the surface of the innermost ellipsoidal shell and joining with the second lateral girdle distally; the presence of the beams gives the test the appearance of having eight subcircular gates, four on each side ofthe test, whereas there are only four true gates, two each on the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the test.

"...this species is easily distinguished from Tetrapyle octancantha by its very narrow second transverse and lateral girdles, very short sagittal axis relative to the principal and tranverse axes, its generally quadrangular outline, and by the presence of the two heavy polar beams which occupy the principal axis and give the test the appearance of having eight gates instead of four." (from Benson, 1966).

DIMENSIONS "length of P1 axis 15-18 microns, of P2 axis 43-52 microns, of P3 axis 123-191 microns, of T1 axis 11-14 microns, of T2 axis 34-41 microns, of T3 axis 119-154 microns." (from Benson, 1966).

REMARKS

1. Note erroneous spelling in Moore (1974) and Molina-Cruz (1975).

Plate 16, figures 2a,b

S124

RECENT DISTRUBUTION

1. Benson, 1966; "... very rare in the Gulf [of California]... present only in the southern half..."

2. Goll and Bjorklund, text-fig. 7; "a small number of species are present in sediments underlying the Equatorial, Gulf Stream and Canary Currents comprising the central gyre of the North Atlantic, and these species may occupy the corresponding gyre system of the South Atlantic as well. The distribution of Octopyle stenozona Haeckel, 1887 is illustrated in text-figure 7. This species may possibly live in the Sargasso Sea, but its skeletons are not preserved in the underlying sediments. Octopyle stenozona is analogous in its distribution to foraminifera such as Globigerinoides conglobatus and Globoquadrina dutertrei (Be´ and Hamlin, 1967, text-figs. 17, 22)".

3. Molina-Cruz, 1975; counted together with Tetrapyle octacantha but observed to be much less abundant; used in factor analysis of southeast Pacific assemblages; cf. Appendix 10 for percent S54 at each station.