Vologesia Cotteau & Gauthier, 1895

Schlüter, Nils & Wiese, Frank, 2017, Late Cretaceous species of Vologesia (Echinoidea, Cassiduloida) from northern Spain, Zootaxa 4306 (2), pp. 261-270 : 262-263

Genus Vologesia Cotteau & Gauthier, 1895

Type species. Vologesia tataosi Cotteau & Gauthier, 1895 , p. 66, by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Apical disc tetrabasal with large madreporite, other genital plates reduced in size; peristome close to anterior margin, 20–35% of test length away from it; bourrelets only very weakly developed; phyllodes with 2–3 series of pores; peristome pentagonal and laterally elongated (modified from Smith, 1995, p. 190).

Remarks. Vologesia , Hungaresia Szörényi, 1955 and Clypeolampas Pomel, 1869 are closely similar; according to Smith (1995), there are few stable characters to differentiate between these genera. For example, Clypeolampas and Hungaresia have subcentrally positioned peristomes, while in Vologesia it is in a more anterior position. Smith (1995) also indicated the peristome to be placed at 20–30% of test length from the anterior border as diagnostic feature in Vologesia . These values were based on V. toucasi ( Lambert, 1911) and V. rawdahensis Ali, 1989 . This range can now be extended to 20–35% on the basis of our description of Vologesia rollingstones sp. nov., illustrating the position of the peristome to be more variable than previously suggested by Smith (1995).

The presence of bourrelets (i.e., swollen perioral interambulacral plates) appears to be a more reliable character for differentiating between Clypeolampas , Hungaresia and Vologesia ; in the last-named genus bourrelets are missing. Furthermore, aboral pustular granules are present only in Clypeolampas (see Smith, 1995).

Occurrence. Vologesia toucasi is known from the upper Santonian of Aude, southern France ( Lambert, 1911) and the upper Santonian of south central Pyrenees, Lleida province, north-eastern Spain (Gallem, personal communication), V. tataosi from the “Senonian of Louristan, Iran ( Cotteau & Gauthier, 1895) and V. rawdahensis from the mid-Maastrichtian of the United Arab Emirates/Oman border region ( Ali, 1989).