Pustulina occitana, Devillez & Charbonnier & Hyžný & Leroy, 2016

Devillez, Julien, Charbonnier, Sylvain, Hyžný, Matúš & Leroy, Lucien, 2016, Review of the Early Cretaceous erymid lobsters (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Western Tethys, Geodiversitas 38 (4), pp. 515-541 : 532

Pustulina occitana n. sp.

( Fig. 9 A-D)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype MNHN.F.A57460 (Leroy coll.).

TYPE LOCALITY. — Laciterne-Boisset near Moulès-et-Baucels, Hérault department, Languedoc-Roussillon region, southern France.

TYPE AGE. — Berriasian, Early Cretaceous.

ETYMOLOGY. — The specific epithet refers to Occitània, the historical region in southern Europe where Occitan was the main language spoken.

DESCRIPTION

Subcylindrical carapace (holotype: CL = 28 mm, CH = 15 mm); dorsal line inclined downward in cephalic region; inflated cardiac, hepatic and branchial regions; deep cervical groove, joined to dorsal margin and to antennal groove; deep antennal groove, twice as narrow as cervical groove; long gastro-orbital groove, originating as a slight median inflexion of cervical groove, with two divergent branches, delimiting two tuberculate gastro-orbital lobes (flat upper lobe, prominent lower lobe); deep, straight postcervical groove, wider than cervical groove, strongly inclined, not joined to dorsal margin, forming a faint notch in upper hepatic region; shallow branchiocardiac groove, interrupted in upper third of carapace height, joined to dorsal margin and not joined to postcervical groove; concave hepatic groove, joined to cervical groove; deep inferior groove, joined to hepatic groove; short cardiac groove, inclined forward, rising from postcervical groove, joined to dorsal margin; cephalic region with convex antennal row of strong tubercles; carapace with scabrous surface, entirely covered with rounded tubercles, coarse and widely spaced in antennal and gastric regions, becoming gradually smaller and nearby towards posterior and ventral parts of branchial region.

DISCUSSION

The new species is assigned to Pustulina based on its typical carapace groove pattern: long gastro-orbital groove with two divergent branches, strongly inclined postcervical groove joined to hepatic groove, short and shallow branchiocardiac groove not joined to postcervical or to hepatic grooves, concave hepatic groove, and cardiac groove.

Pustulina occitana n. sp. differs from the other four Early Cretaceous species, mainly by its ornamentation and its carapace groove pattern. Compared to Pustulina victori ( Van Straelen, 1936) , nom. nov., the cardiac groove of P. occitana n. sp. is narrower, shallower and less inclined forward, the gastro-orbital groove is longer and the ornamentation is denser. Pustulina tuberculata ( Bell, 1863) possesses a cephalic region with straight dorsal margin in lateral view, whereas in P. occitana n. sp., the dorsal margin is inclined downward. Moreover, the carapace ornamentation in P. tuberculata is composed of homogeneous evenly spaced tubercles, whereas it is heterogeneous in P. occitana n. sp. (cephalic region with coarse and more widely spaced tubercles; branchial region with nearby and smaller tubercles). Pustulina occitana n. sp. shows some differences from Pustulina colossea n. sp. in its carapace groove pattern: its cervical groove is not as sinuous as in P. colossea n. sp., its gastro-orbital groove is narrower, with a shorter upper branch, its postcervical groove is not gradually curved and its inferior groove is more strongly curved forward. Moreover P. occitana n. sp. is devoid of prominent upper gastro-orbital lobe and its ornamentation is denser than in P. colossea n. sp. Pustulina spinulata Secrétan, 1964 (Valanginian-Hauterivian, Madagascar) is the only extra- European Pustulina species for the Early Cretaceous. As P. tuberculata , also P. spinulata possesses a straight dorsal margin in cephalic region (inclined downward in Pustulina occitana n. sp.). In addition, P. spinulata differs from P. occitana n. sp. by its more inflated and spiny hepatic region and its homogeneous ornamentation in branchial region.

Figures

FIG. 9. — Species of Pustulina Quenstedt, 1857 from Western Europe: A-D, holotype MNHN.F.A57460 (Leroy coll.) of Pustulina occitana n. sp. from the Berriasian of Laciterne-Boisset near Moulès-et-Baucels, France: carapace in right lateral view (A), dorsal view (C) and line drawings (B, D); E, F, holotype (probably lost) of Pustulina victori nom. nov. from the Berriasian of Leysse, France: original figure of carapace by Van Straelen (1936: pl. 2, fig. 3) (E) and line drawing (F); G-H, holotype MNHN.F.A57459 (Leroy coll.) of Pustulina colossea n. sp. from the Hauterivian of Castellane, France: left lateral view (G) and line drawing (H); I-L, specimen MNHN.F.A57461 of Pustulina tuberculata (Bell, 1863) from the Albian of Cambridge, United Kingdom: right lateral view (I), dorsal view (K) and line drawings (J, L). Abbreviations: a, branchiocardiac groove; b, antennal groove; b1, hepatic groove; c, postcervical groove; cd, cardiac groove;d, gastro-orbital groove;e1e, cervical groove; i, inferior groove. Photographs: L. Cazes (A, C, G, I, K). Line drawings: J. Devillez. Scale bars: 10 mm.