Batopora rosula (Reuss, 1847)

(Fig. 12 A-G)

Cellepora rosula Reuss, 1847: 78, pl. 9, fig. 17; 1867: pl. 1, fig. 7ac; pl. 2, fig. 1a-c.

Batopora rosula – Manzoni 1877: 54, pl. 2, fig. 6. — Malecki 1963: 135, pl. 15, fig. 4. — Braga 1975: 147, pl. 3, figs 10-11. — Cook & Lagaaij 1976: 351, pl. 3, figs 2-3; pl. 4, figs 1-2. — Moissette et al. 1993: 113, figs 7g-i. — Haddadi-Hamdane 1996: 121, pl. 2, fig. 4. — Moissette 1996: 193, figs 1A-C. — Pizzaferri & Braga 2000: 61, fig. 2. — Zágoršek 2010b: 168, pl. 83, fig. 4.

Lacrimula sp. – Moissette 1988: 193, pl. 31, figs 7-9.

OCCURRENCE. — Eocene: Italy, Romania (Malecki 1963; Braga 1975). Early Miocene: Spain, Corsica, Italy, Malta (Moissette 1996). Middle Miocene: Austria, Hungary (Moissette et al. 2006), Czech Republic (Zágoršek 2010b), northern Italy, Calabria, Malta (Moissette 1996). Late Miocene: Algeria (Moissette 1988), Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria (Pizzaferri & Braga 2000), Malta (PM, pers. obs.), Crete (Moissette et al. 1993). Pliocene: Spain, Algeria (Haddadi-Hamdane 1996), northern Italy, Sicily, Crete (PM, pers. obs.), Karpathos (PM, pers. obs.). Pleistocene: Rhodes (PM, pers. obs.). This fossil species has exclusively been recorded from the Mediterranean-Paratethys realm (Moissette 1996). Three present-day Batopora species are known from the Indo-Pacific at depths between 285 and 880 m (Cook & Lagaaij 1976; Hayward & Cook 1979).

DESCRIPTION

Small conical conescharelliniform colonies with a flattened base an apical tube comprised of kenozooids and terminated by a small pit. Hexagonal zooids arranged in concentric alternating series. Frontal convex with fairly large pores. Large circular aperture located in the distal part of each zooid. No avicularia. Rare small broken hyperstomial ovicells are visible (Fig. 12A).

REMARKS

A few juvenile colonies are present in a fair number of samples. This was also observed by several authors (Cook & Lagaaij 1976; Pizzaferri & Braga 2000).