Neovermilia cf. ampullacea (J. DE C. SOWERBY , 1829)

Kočí, Tomáš & Jäger, Manfred, 2015, Sabellid And Serpulid Worms (Polychaeta, Canalipalpata, Sabellida, Sabellidae, Serpulidae) From The Rocky Coast Facies (Late Cenomanian) At Předboj Near Prague, Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B 71 (1 - 2), pp. 31-50 : 34

Neovermilia cf. ampullacea (J. DE C. SOWERBY, 1829)

Pl. 1, Fig. 2; Pl. 3, Fig. 3; Pl. 4, Fig. 1

2012b Neovermilia ex gr. ampullacea (SOWERBY) – Kočí, p. 122, fig. 1B.

2014 Neovermilia cf. ampullacea ( SOWERBY, 1829) – Jäger, p. 66, fig. 2c.

M a t e r i a l: Three fragments of the anterior tube portion.

S u b s t r a t e: No substrate is preserved, but vice versa one of the tubes (Pl. 3, Fig. 3) is encrusted by membranipore bryozoa.

D e s c r i p t i o n. The tube is circular in cross-section and measures 3–9 mm in diameter. An annular peristome, characteristic of Neovermilia ampullacea , is present.

R e m a r k s a n d r e l a t i o n s h i p s. The genus Neovermilia first occurred in the Late Oxfordian ( Radwańska, 1996). Neovermilia is common in the coarse-grained rocky coast facies sites in the BCB, e.g. Velim, Kamajka near Chotusice, Kaňk – Na Vrších, etc. Tube morphology is quite variable, making a useful discrimination between species nearly impossible. Some specimens bear a sharp longitudinal keel, whereas other specimens have no keel but a tube with a circular cross-section. Many specimens of the genus Neovermilia possess hollow “tubulae” (two small longitudinal canals near the borders of the tube’s base; compare e.g. Thomas 1940, Hedley 1958, fig. 9, Jäger 1983, fig. 2, Vinn and Wilson 2010, fig. 4, Sklenář et al. 2013, Ippolitov et al. 2014). In the genus Neovermilia , the tubulae are cellular and composed of shorter cells than in the genera Spirobranchus BLAINVILLE, 1818 and Pyrgopolon DE MONTFORT, 1808 .

Formerly, Neovermilia ampullacea had been attributed to the genus Proliserpula REGENHARDT, 1961 , but according to Jäger (2005) Proliserpula is a subjective synonym for Neovermilia . The shape and structure of the tube in the Plio-Pleistocene to Recent species Neovermilia falcigera ( ROULE, 1898) (see Zibrowius and ten Hove 1987, fig. 2) is very similar to that of the Cretaceous specimens except that N. falcigera has no keel, weaker transverse ornamentation and a thick tube wall. However, a strong keel and delicate transverse ornamentation are present in another Recent Neovermilia species, N. globula ( DEW, 1959) .

The fossil genus Propomatoceros WARE, 1975 is usually triangular or rounded triangular in cross-section. Although some specimens of Neovermilia are also triangular in cross-section, this genus is usually more rounded with tunnel-shaped or circular cross-sections.

Ziegler (1974, 1984) described the present species from many nearshore localities of the Late Cenomanian to the Middle Turonian of the BCB, whereas specimens of N. ampullacea sensu stricto from the offshore locality Úpohlavy were described and discussed by Sklenář et al. (2013).