Australian Cretaceous Cnidaria and Porifera

Abstract

Australian Cretaceous sponge and coral faunas are reviewed and increased with new discoveries. The largest new fauna described, from the very thin Maastrichtian Miria Formation, an uncemented chalky marl, in the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia, includes a poriferan, Ventriculites sp., the hydrozoans, Stylaster cretaceous sp. nov. and Astya nielseni Wells, 1977 originally described from the Eocene of Tonga and the scleractinian corals Smilotrochus carnarvonensis sp. nov., Conotrochus giraliensis sp. nov., Parasmilia cyensis sp. nov., Palaeopsammia cardabiaensis sp. nov., Flabellum miriaensis sp. nov., Ballanophyllia acostae sp. nov., representatives of five genera left in open nomenclature and Caryophyllia arcotensis (Forbes, 1846), originally described from south India. The Santonian Gingin Chalk, in the northern Perth Basin, Western Australia has yielded the scleractinian corals Ceratotrochus ginginensis (Etheridge 1913), originally assigned to Coelosmilia and Caryophyllia arcotensis (Forbes, 1846), holdfast structures that probably supported octocorals and the poriferans, Peronidella(?) globosa (Etheridge 1913) and Pachyteichisma corrugatus sp. nov. Mckenziephyllia accordensis gen. et sp. nov. is described as the first scleractinian coral (Faviidae) from the Eromanga Basin. It comes from the Albian Allaru Formation in the Barcaldine district of central Queensland. Purisiphonia clarkei Bowerbank, 1869 is noted from the Aptian Wallumbilla Formation as the only known poriferan in the Surat and Eromanga basins.