6533b82bfe1ef96bd128d90f

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Braquiópodos devónicos de la Cordillera Cantábrica (Norte de España). 12) Ferronirhynchia nuevo género de rinconélido (Trigonirhynchiidae) del Emsiense Superior

subject

description

The taxonomic status of the subfamily Trigonirhynchiinae is discussed based on the morphological features, together with the geographic and the stratigraphic distribution of the type genus  Trigonirhynchia  Cooper. The new genus,  Ferronirhynchia  n. gen., including the type species  F. pulgari  n. sp., is proposed. The new taxon, close to  Trigonirhynchia , occurs in upper Emsian beds of the Moniello Formation, in Asturias,  serotinus/patulus  conodont zones, Faunal Intervals 14 to 16a. The ontogeny and palaeoecology of  F. pulgari  are analyzed. Growth of the new species is bicyclic. Juvenile forms are low and biconvex displaying sharp commissures. Adult forms are high, dorsi-biconvex, geniculate, with abrupt anterior and lateral margins.  Ferronirhynchia pulgari  is an opportunistic species, often found in paraautochtonous rhynchonellid assemblages that occur in quiet and muddy deposits formed below the wave-base level near or in reefal environments in the Cantabrian platfom. Shells of the new species supported a variety of small epizoans, commensalists or mutualists, mostly reticulate bryozoans, serpulid and other tubeworms, and auloporids. This life habit favoured the epizoans to escape from burial in muddy bottoms.