Stenolaemate bryozoans from the Carboniferous of Egypt

Abstract

This is the first detailed taxonomic study of Carboniferous bryozoans from the autochthonous southern margin of the Palaeotethys between western Libya and southernmost Turkey. Eleven bryozoan species, all first documented in this vast region, are described from the vicinity of the Gulf of Suez. Four species have been derived from the Mississippian (middle Viséan) Um Bogma Formation, southwestern Sinai, eastern side of the gulf. In total seven species were identified from the Pennsylvanian. They are from the lower Moscovian Abu Durba Formation, southwestern Sinai, eastern side of the Gulf, and from the upper Moscovian Rod El Hamal Formation, Eastern Desert/Wadi Araba, on its western side. Three species of Fistulipora are described in open nomenclature, two from the Mississippian and one from the Pennsylvanian. One species from the Mississippian is new – Parastenodiscus sinaiensis sp. nov. (Trepostomata). Bryozoans from the Um Bogma Formation show relations to the Mississippian (Viséan) of Ukraine, whereas some of the Pennsylvanian bryozoans are also known from the Russian platform and northwestern Spain, thus indicating a general Palaeotethys affinity.