Mennerius longus Luljeva, 1967

Ovechkina, Maria N., Jordan, Richard W. & Mostovski, Mike B., 2017, On the validity, synonymy and distribution of some Lapideacassaceae (Haptophyta), Phytotaxa 308 (1), pp. 111-111 : 111

Mennerius longus Luljeva, 1967 emend. ( Figure 1A )

Mennerius longus Luljeva, 1967: 97 , pl. IV, figs 48, 48a; Loeblich & Tappan, 1969: 577; Luljeva & Permyakov 1980: 55. Holotype:—L-1725/18 (IGS, designated by Luljeva (1967)), Turonian; Mokhnachi [51.74°N 30.78°E], Chernihiv Region, Ukraine.

Description:—Proximal tier short, apparently no proximal collar. First distal tier approx. twice as high as second one, consists of thin elements and builds parallel-sided body. Second distal tier conical. Body about 2 times as high as wide. Apical cone apparently short, central apical process long and straight.

Notes:— Mennerius blackii , originally described by Perch-Nielsen ( Perch-Nielsen & Franz 1977) as belonging to the genus Lapideacassis from the Early Palaeocene of the São Paolo Plateau, is possibly a junior synonym of M. longus . Perch-Nielsen (op. cit.) mentioned that the species might have been reworked from Cretaceous deposits, and it has indeed been recorded from the Upper Cretaceous since then (see Supporting information in Linnert et al. 2016). However, the formal action is to be postponed until further material of M. longus from the type area/strata is available.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Some Late Cretaceous representatives of the genus Mennerius. A. M. longus, Turonian, Ukraine; 48a, holotype. B. M. morosus, Turonian, Ukraine; 49a, holotype. C. Mennerius sp. A cf. M. bispinosus, Campanian, Ukraine. D. Mennerius sp. B cf. M. bispinosus, Lower Maastrichtian, Russia. E. M. cornutus, Lower Maastrichtian, Russia. F. Mennerius sp. A., Cenomanian, Israel. Scale bars 5 μm. (Figures 1A, 1B after Luljeva (1967); Figure 1C after Matveev (2015); Figures 1D–F, crossed nicols)