Eiffelia sp.

Clausen, Sébastien & Álvaro, J. Javier, 2006, Skeletonized microfossils from the Lower-Middle Cambrian transition of the Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51 (2), pp. 223-238 : 225

Eiffelia sp.

Fig. 3A.

Material.—Ten specimens preserved as secondarily phosphatized spicules in the Middle Cambrian “Beleño” facies, sections Cr 2 and Cr 4.

Description.—The spicules have a regular six−rayed disk, 310–330 µm in diameter, with rays diverging at ca. 60 °; the rays are slender and can be of unequal length (80–200 µm); they usually intersect at a slight angle to the plane of the central disk so that both concave and convex sides are distinguishable; lack of central transverse ray.

Remarks.— Specimens with regular six−rayed basal disk and without transverse central ray show the unquestionably distinctive feature of Eiffelia , but both E. globosa and E. araniformis share this type of spicule. Even if Bengtson (in Bengtson et al. 1990: 29), considering that species of Actinoites Duan, 1984 , Lenastella Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky and Mambetov, 1981, and Niphadus Duan, 1984 are synonyms of E. araniformis , noted that “although Middle Cambrian spicules of E. globosa with central rays are not known [according to Rigby 1986] the majority of Lower Cambrian spicules similarly lack a central ray. It seems probable that Middle and Lower Cambrian forms had similarly constructed spicular skeletons”, the available material does not include specimens with transverse central ray and therefore E. araniformis cannot be properly identified (Stefan Bengtson, personal communication 2004). However, the few available specimens and their preservation make assignation to E. globosa unwarranted. In conclusion, the spicules described above are referred to Eiffelia under open species nomenclature.

The specimens reported herein are broadly similar to specimens released from Iberian Chains ( Álvaro and Vennin 1996), and to some specimens figured and described by Mehl (1998: 1172) and Bengtson (in Bengtson et al. 1990: fig. 12G).