Saffordotaxis cf. yanagidae Sakagami, 1964

Ernst, Andrej & Minwegen, Elke, 2006, Late Carboniferous bryozoans from La Hermida, Spain, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51 (3), pp. 569-588 : 581

Saffordotaxis cf. yanagidae Sakagami, 1964

Figs. 5N, 6A; Table 10.

cf. 1964 Saffordotaxis yanagidae sp. nov.; Sakagami 1964: 299–301,

pl. 45: 1–4.

Material.—SMF 1740, 2154.

Description.—Ramose branched colonies, 1.05–1.20 mm in diameter. Autozooecia tubular, budding from the median axis in a spiral pattern. Apertures oval to petaloid due to indenting acanthostyles, arranged in regular diagonal rows, spaced 10 per 2 mm distance. Rare diaphragms present. Heterozooecia absent. Actinotostylets common, spaced 4–6 around each aperture, having dark cores and laminated sheaths. Walls laminated, with dark median layer, 0.02 mm thick in endozone and 0.06–0.08 mm thick in exozone.

Discussion.—The present material is very similar to Saffordotaxis yanagidae Sakagami, 1964 from the Millerella yowarensis Zone of the Akiyoshi Limestone (top Serpukhovian) of Japan. The Japanese material differs slightly in having larger apertures (0.08–0.11 versus 0.07–0.10 mm in present material), and thinner colonies (0.80–1.10 versus 1.05–1.20 mm in present material).

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Picos de Europa Formation, Moscovian, Upper Carboniferous; La Hermida, Spain.? Millerella yowarensis Zone of the Akiyoshi Limestone (top Serpukhovian), Upper Carboniferous; Japan.