Brachiopod Species Research Articles

Early Cambrian organophosphatic brachiopods from the Xinji Formation, at Shuiyu section, Shanxi Province, North China

Abundant and diverse small shelly fossils have been reported from Cambrian Series 2 in North China, but the co-occurring brachiopods are still poorly known. Herein, we describe seven genera, five species and two undetermined species of organophosphatic brachiopods including one new genus and new species from the lower Cambrian Xinji Formation at Shuiyu section, located on the southern margin of North China Platform. The brachiopod assemblage comprises one mickwitziid (stem group brachiopoda), Paramickwitzia boreussinaensis n. gen. n. sp., a paterinide, Askepasma toddenseLaurie, 1986, an acrotretoid, Eohadrotreta cf. zhenbaensisLi and Holmer, 2004, a botsfordiid, Schizopholis yorkensis (Holmer and Ushatinskaya in Gravestock et al., 2001) and three linguloids, Spinobolus sp., Eodicellomus cf. elkaniiformis Holmer and Ushatinskaya in Gravestock et al., 2001 and Eoobolus sp. This brachiopod assemblage suggests a late Age 3 to early Age 4 for the Xinji Formation and reveals a remarkably strong connection with coeval faunas from East Gondwana, particularly the Hawker Group in South Australia. The high degree of similarity (even at species level) further supports a close palaeogeographic position between the North China Platform and Australian East Gondwana during the early Cambrian as indicated by small shelly fossil data.

Two Early Carboniferous Brachiopods, Levitusia humerosa (Sowerby, 1822) and Grandispirifer mylkensis Yang, 1959, from the Arisu Formation of Okuhinotsuchi, South Kitakami Belt, Japan

Two early Carboniferous brachiopod species, Levitusia humerosa (Sowerby) and Grandispirifer mylkensis Yang, are described from Japan for the first time. These species, from the middle part of the Arisu Formation in the Okuhinotsuchi area, South Kitakami Belt, indicate an early Visean age. Therefore, the middle part of the Arisu Formation is correlated with the lower Visean. In terms of palaeobiogeography, occurrence of the two species suggests that South Kitakami was probably the eastern extension of the North China Province, and located near and to the east of North China (Sino-Korea) during the early Visean.

Brachiopod palaeobiogeography in the western Tethys during the Early Jurassic diversity maximum: introduction of a Pontic Province

The biogeography of Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic) brachiopods in western Tethys is investigated using complementary multivariate tools including metric and non-metric ordination, additive cluster and bootstrapped spanning network analyses, as well as one-way analysis of similarity and similarity percentage analysis. All analyses were conducted using the Dice and Simpson similarity indices for presence/absence data on occurrence datasets involving 24 assemblages homogenized at the species level, including (403 taxa) or excluding (210 taxa) species found in only one assemblage. The analyses present a highly consistent biogeographical picture involving three main clusters: the Euro-Boreal, Mediterranean and Pontic biochores. The brachiopod species typical of the newly defined Pontic biochore are illustrated. The three assemblages from the Atlas area are interpreted as a fourth biochore, compositionally intermediate between those of the Euro-Boreal and Mediterranean. The Mediterranean biochore can be further divided into an intra- and a peri-Mediterranean group. These five, palaeogeographically well-constrained biochores show moderate to high degrees of species endemicity, ranging from 20% (Atlas) to 58% (Euro-Boreal). Based on available evidence, and after a reasonable cutback of the customary scale of ranks, the following biogeographical categories and names are suggested for the western Tethyan Pliensbachian brachiopod biochores: Euro-Boreal Province, Mediterranean Province (including an intra-Mediterranean and a peri-Mediterranean Subprovince), Pontic Province and Atlas Subprovince. In addition, a still poorly documented brachiopod biochore occurs on the Gondwana margin as a possible precursor of the extensive Middle to Late Jurassic Ethiopian Province.

The giants of the phylum Brachiopoda: a matter of diet?

AbstractThe species of the brachiopod Gigantoproductus are giants within the Palaeozoic sedentary benthos. This presents a dilemma as living brachiopods have low‐energy lifestyles. Although brachiopod metabolic rates were probably higher during the Palaeozoic than today, the massive size reached by species of Gigantoproductus is nevertheless unusual. By examining the diet of Gigantoproductus species from the Visean (Mississippian, Carboniferous) of Derbyshire (UK), we seek to understand the mechanisms that enabled those low‐metabolism brachiopod species to become giants. Were they suspension feeders, similar to all other brachiopods, or did endosymbiosis provide a lifestyle that allowed them to have higher metabolic rates and become giants? We suggest that the answer to this conundrum may be solved by the identification of the biogeochemical signatures of symbionts, through combined analyses of the carbon and nitrogen‐isotopic compositions of the occluded organic matrix within their calcite shells. The shells are formed of substructured columnar units that are remarkably long and a few hundreds of microns wide, deemed to be mostly pristine based on multiple analyses (petrography, cathodoluminescence (CL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)); they contain occluded organic fractions detected by TEM, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analyses. We conclude that the gigantic size reached by the species of Gigantoproductus is probably the result of a mixotroph lifestyle, by which they could rely on the energy and nutrients derived both from photosymbiotic microbes and from filtered particulate food.

Assessing the biomineralization processes in the shell layers of modern brachiopods from oxygen isotopic composition and elemental ratios: Implications for their use as paleoenvironmental proxies

Fossil brachiopod shells are often used as valuable archives to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions in deep time. However, biomineralization processes can impact their fidelity as geochemical proxies. Brachiopod shells comprise an outer primary layer, a secondary fibrous layer and sometimes, a tertiary columnar layer. Therefore, it is essential to assess the potential effects of the biomineralization processes in each of the different shell microstructures of modern brachiopods. This study analyses the oxygen isotopic composition together with Li/Ca, Na/Ca Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca data at high spatial (20-50 μm) resolution in seven modern brachiopod species, focusing on differences between the primary, secondary and tertiary layers. In all studied species, δ18O values of the outer primary layer are consistently out of equilibrium with seawater. Also, this shell layer is enriched in Li, Na, Mg and Sr. Contrary to the primary layer, the innermost secondary layer is near or at oxygen isotopic and elemental equilibrium with ambient seawater. The columnar tertiary shell layer, if present, has the least variable and the heaviest oxygen isotopic composition, within the range of equilibrium values with seawater. This tertiary layer, however, is depleted in minor and trace elements relative to the other shell layers. Thus, the tertiary layer is more suitable for oxygen isotopic studies, whereas the innermost secondary layer of the most mature parts of the shell is the best target in two-layered shells. While we do not observe any clear interspecific relationships between Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios, on one hand, and environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity and pH, on the other hand, there is a positive interspecific relationship between Na/Ca and salinity and a negative interspecific relationship between Li/Ca and temperature, suggesting their potential use as proxies of physicochemical parameters of seawater.

Early Triassic benthic invertebrates from the Great Bank of Guizhou, South China: systematic palaeontology and palaeobiology

AbstractTo further our understanding of the evolution, selectivity and ecological composition of marine communities following the latest Permian mass extinction, new collections from underrepresented regions in the immediate extinction aftermath are required. Here, we provide new systematic data and the first palaeobiological account of the benthic invertebrate community from the Great Bank of Guizhou, South China. We systematically describe three brachiopod species, 26 bivalve species, 11 gastropod species, 1 microconchid and 1 crinoid species. The descriptions include 5 new species; 2 bivalve species (Hoernesia? danisae, Atomodesma? hautmanni) and 3 gastropod species (Donaldina erwini, Cossmannina alfischeri and Vernelia samae). This is the most species‐rich benthic community known so far from the extinction aftermath, which is typically characterized by a high proportion of Permian holdover genera and cosmopolitan taxa. Taxonomically, this community is different from coeval faunas with dissimilarity values >60%. Ecologically, however, this fauna is similar to faunas from the Dolomites (Italy) and East Greenland. This new data, therefore, suggests that the lower Griesbachian invertebrate faunas were taxonomically heterogeneous, whereas ecologically they were relatively homogenous. The marine community on the Great Bank of Guizhou records genera that survived the mass extinction event with some, but not all, recording a size reduction, that is, the Lilliput effect. The absence of large body fossils and the preferential survival of small species suggest that the mass extinction event was size‐selective.

Permian spiriferellid brachiopods from northern Pangaea: taxonomy, biostratigraphy, macroevolution and implications for palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiogeographical reconstructions

This study reports diverse spiriferellid brachiopods from the Permian rocks of Svalbard and adjacent areas (Arctic Canada and Subpolar Urals of Russia) located at the northern margin of Pangaea. In total, 11 brachiopod species in four genera are recognized and described in detail, including two new species (Spiriferella protodraschei and Arcullina? enokiani). According to our taxonomic investigation, morphological characteristics of the ventral sulcus and dorsal fold are relatively stable within each species, in spite of considerable intraspecific variations in shell outline and macro-ornamentation. In addition, both the arrangement of pustules, as a shell surface micro-ornamentation, and the development of delthyrial coverings are shown to be significant features for inferring phylogenetic relationships and for defining species. The best-known but still questionable taxon, Spiriferella keilhavii, is here identified as an endemic species restricted to Bjørnøya and, possibly, to central East Greenland; it is phylogenetically closest to S. loveni. Following the taxonomic revision, the stratigraphical ranges of the spiriferellids within the Kapp Starostin Formation in Spitsbergen are fully refined: three species, S. protodraschei, A. polaris and Timaniella wilczeki, are confined to the lowermost Vøringen Member (late Artinskian–early Kungurian), whereas S. loveni dominates the overlying members with a much longer stratigraphical range (late Kungurian–Lopingian?). This abrupt compositional change, along with comparable changes in other taxonomic groups, can be explained by a palaeoclimatic shift from cool to cold conditions between the Vøringen Member and the overlying Svenskeegga member. A similar biotic transition is identified between the Hambergfjellet and Miseryfjellet formations in Bjørnøya. On the other hand, S. loveni is abundant in the Late Permian strata of central East Greenland, but there it appears to be more costate in plication compared to its counterpart from Spitsbergen. It is suggested that this alteration in shell ornamentation may represent a possible response (adaptation) to warming arising from the southward migration of the species.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:85B863D2-DB42-4835-940A-2DE852C82178

Bryozoans and Brachiopods from the Famennian (Upper Devonian) of the Central Russian Platform

In Lipetsk and Orel oblasts the sediments of the Zadonsk Regional horizon (Lower Famennian, Upper Devonian) have yielded two species of trepostome bryozoans (Leptotrypa lipovkiensis sp. nov. and Anomalotoechus promiscuus Lavrentjeva, 1974) and brachiopods belonging to the five orders that dominate the benthic association of this horizon. These bryozoans are characterized by high variability in colony growth habits and internal structures. Representatives of both invertebrate groups obviously developed under periodically changing conditions of the inner part of a shallow shelf.

RECENT BRACHIOPODS FROM THE TONGA ISLANDS, SW PACIFIC: TAXONOMY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY

Twenty species of Recent brachiopods belonging to the genera Neoancistrocrania, Basiliola, Basiliolella, Dyscolia, Abyssothyris, Xenobrochus, Terebratulina, Fallax, Septicollarina, Frenulina, Amphithyris, Annuloplatidia, Leptothyrella, Dallina, Campages, Thecidellina and Minutella have been identified in the material collected during the French cruise Bordau 2 to the Tonga Islands, South-West Pacific. Apart from Frenulina sanguinolenta all species represent the first records for the Tonga Islands. The investigated brachiopod fauna shows the greatest affinity to that from Fiji and New Caledonia, having 16 and 12 species in common, respectively. Although less affinity is observed with the New Zealand fauna, there are two species, Terebratulina australis and Amphithyris buckmani reported so far only from New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. The biodiversity of brachiopods inTonga is similar to that inFiji but half as great as that inNew Caledonia andNew Zealand regions and much higher than inFrench Polynesia.

An annotated catalogue of types of Silurian–Devonian brachiopod species from southern Belgium and northern France in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (1870–1945), with notes on those curated in other Belgian and foreign institutions

The type material of 45 Pridolian–Devonian brachiopod species, described in southern Belgium and northern France (1870–1945) and curated at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Brussels), is re-investigated and illustrated in order to facilitate future taxonomic revision; such a catalogue should allow a better assessment of the brachiopod diversity during the considered time span. Furthermore, 28 other Silurian–Devonian species originally described in Belgium (1850–1950), but housed in other Belgian or foreign institutions, are also discussed. For taxonomical purposes, the lectotypes of several species are selected; the latter were described by Asselberghs (Stropheodonta couviniensis, Plethorhyncha percostata var. gdoumontensis, Athyris dorlodoti, Retzia gdoumontensis, Dielasma maillieuxi), Béclard (Orthis dorsoplicata, Orthis musischura, Rhynchonella parvula (non R. parvula Eudes-Deslongchamps)), de Ryckholt (Lingula amayana), Dewalque (Crania corneti), and Maillieux (Discina (Discina) forrierensis, Pholidostrophia extensa, Anoplia theorassensis, Schuchertella durbutensis, Streptorhynchus rahiri, Pentamerus loei). Re-investigation of the ambocoeliid Spirifer pentameroides Stainier highlighted the homonymy between Diazoma Dürkoop, 1970 (Brachiopoda) and Diazoma Lamarck, 1816 (Tunicata); the former genus must be rejected and replaced by a valid synonym, namely Kelusia Mamedov, 1978.

First report of Hirnantian (Upper Ordovician) high-latitude peri-gondwanan macrofossil assemblages from Portugal

AbstractThe first report of theHirnantiahigh-latitude peri-Gondwanan Fauna from Portugal (Upper Ordovician, Ribeira do Braçal Formation) is presented here. The described macroassemblages are fairly diverse containing fossils of brachiopods, trilobites, echinoderms, machaeridians, and ostracodes. Among the brachiopods, the most abundant isMirorthis mira.Plectothyrellacf.P.libyca,Paromalomenacf.P.polonica,Plectoglossa? sp., and a small indeterminate discinoid are also present. The trilobites are represented by abundant sclerites ofMucronaspiscf.M.mucronata, and an isolated cranidium and pygidium assigned toFlexicalymene. The occurrence ofMucronaspisandFlexicalymenerepresents the first record of these genera in Portugal. Echinoderms are dominant in the basal bed of the formation; the columnal plates tentatively ascribed to morphogenusPentagonocyclicusare the most abundant, followed by the echinosphaeritids. Abundant disarticulated machaeridian plates, of the genusPlumulites, associated with trilobites are present in one of the localities. Ostracodes were found in one single locality and have been assigned tentatively to the genusHerrigia. Ramose and massive bryozoans also occur in the assemblage. This new macrofossil assemblage supports the assignment of an Hirnantian age for the Ribeira do Braçal Formation. Most of the brachiopod species and the dalmanitidMucronaspisare commonly present in Hirnantian deposits globally, but the presence in the assemblage of a brachiopod close toPlectothyrella libyca, a cold-water species, previously reported only from the Hirnantian of Libya and Morocco, is noticeable. This strengthens the case for a high latitudinal setting of the present-day territory of the Portuguese Central Iberian Zone during the Late Ordovician.

Permian brachiopods from Chiapas, Mexico: new stratigraphical and paleobiogeographical insights

Eleven brachiopod species from the Paso Hondo Formation in the Chicomuselo region of southern Chiapas, Mexico are described. Chonosteges cooperi is a new species. Dyoros (Tetragonetes) rectangulatus, Costispinifera rugatula, Echinosteges tuberculatus, Tropidelasma furcillatum, Acosarina rectimarginata, Tautosia transenna, Composita hapsida, and Neospirifer venezuelensis are recorded for the first time in Mexico. The brachiopods occur in a locality to the east of the town of Monte Redondo, deposited in limestone and argillaceous limestone. The associated biota is composed of different filter feeders, with diverse invertebrates (rugose corals, microconchids, hederelloids, bryozoans, and crinoids) recorded. Lithological traits and features of the fossils allowed the facies to be assigned to a shallow open marine paleoenvironment, within a homoclinal ramp. Brachiopods recorded at the locality allow the upper levels of the Paso Hondo Formation to be correlated with the Cherry Canyon and Road Canyon formations of Texas in the United States, which have been characterized as typical stratigraphic units from the Guadalupian of North America. This information indicates that the age of the Paso Hondo Formation can be extended from the Early Permian to the Roadian (early Guadalupian), making this the first report of a formation of this age in southeastern Mexico. The presence of typical taxa from the Middle Permian in both Chiapas and Texas suggests that those regions were closely connected during the late Paleozoic, at least during the early Guadalupian. The similarity of Mexican biota to coeval faunas of Texas indicates that the brachiopods found in Chiapas occurred in the Grandian Province during the Middle Permian, which also included Texas and New Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, and northwest Mexico.

Productidinid brachiopods (Strophomenata, Productida), including Martinezchaconia luisae new genus and new species of Linoproductidae, from the Carboniferous of Santiago Ixtaltepec region, Oaxaca, Southeast México

We describe three brachiopod species of the Suborder Productidina from the Ixtaltepec Formation, Carboniferous of the north of Oaxaca State, southern Mexico, found in peri-reef deposits. Stegacanthia bowsheri and Undaria sp. are members of the families Sentosiidae and Monticuliferidae respectively and were found in strata of the Visean (Middle Mississippian). Martinezchaconia luisae, new genus and species of the Family Linoproductidae, was recollected in Bashkirian-Moscovian (Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian) strata. The respective ages are inferred from the index species of brachiopods associated with the productidines herein described.

Morphological adaptations of the brachiopods from a Late Cretaceous rocky shore, Ivö Klack, southern Sweden

In 1965 D.V. Ager highlighted the concept of morphological adaptations of Mesozoic brachiopods to different environments. Rocky shores were only indirectly included in his seven habitats, undoubtedly due their rarity in the fossil record. A diverse brachiopod fauna, comprising 19 species, lived on the late early Campanian gneissic rocky shore at the palaeo-island of Ivö, southern Sweden. The brachiopods show many different morphological adaptations to the contrasting local habitats in the turbulent and highly variable environment. They are grouped into guilds and related to preferred habitats according to their morphology, substrate strategies, mode of life and preservation. Four main local habitats are recognized, representing different energy and illumination conditions, ranging from protected areas below and between gneiss boulders and hummocks to the most exposed areas on the vertical sides of these rocks. Medium-sized delicate species preferred the protected habitats, whereas large, robust species occupied the most exposed habitats. No small-sized brachiopod species are known from Ivö Klack in marked contrast to contemporaneous faunas of the more basinal chalks. The only observed direct indication of predation on the brachiopods is boreholes after carnivorous gastropods. The brachiopod fauna is by far the richest in terms of species diversity compared not only to other Late Cretaceous rocky shore faunas worldwide, but rocky shore faunas in the entire Phanerozoic. This difference is so remarkable that it cannot be explained by taphonomic factors alone and the density and diversity of the well-preserved brachiopods at Ivö Klack and the great variety in shell morphologies gives a unique opportunity to examine the variety in attachment strategies used in such a highly variable environment.

Evolutionary dynamics of the Wnt gene family: implications for lophotrochozoans

Genes encoding Wnt ligands, which have important roles in cell communication and organ development, are restricted to multicellular animals. We systematically studied Wnt genes from eumetazoan genomes, with emphasis on the poorly studied superphylum Lophotrochozoa (four annelids, seven mollusks, eight platyhelminths, one bdelloid rotifer, and one brachiopod species). Between 3 and 39 Wnt loci were identified in each genome, and the protostome-specific loss of Wnt3 genes was confirmed. We identified gastropod-specific loss of Wnt8, refining the previously proposed mollusk-specific loss. Some duplicated Wnt genes belonging to a same subfamily or closely related subfamilies showed tandem distribution in the lophotrochozoan genomes, indicating tandem duplication events during Wnt family evolution. Members of the conserved Wnt10-Wnt6-Wnt1-Wnt9 cluster showed highly correlated expression patterns over time in two assayed lophotrochozoans, the oyster Crassostrea gigas and the brachiopod Lingula anatina, reflecting the possible similar function of the clustered Wnt genes.

Great Paleozoic-Mesozoic Biotic Turnings and Paleontological Education in China: A Tribute to the Achievements of Professor Zunyi Yang

Professor Zunyi Yang is a pioneer paleontologist who established the earliest Paleontological education and research in China, and has contributed his lifetime to promotion of Chinese paleontological education and researches as well as the studies on the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) mass extinction and its possible causes. Yang has studied six fossil clades and trace fossils, together with his colleagues, he has established 6 new species of cephalopods, 1 new genus and 15 new species of gastropods, 8 new genera and 31 new species of bivalves, 17 new genera and 66 new species of brachiopods, 1 new genus and 4 new species of ophiuroids, 2 new genera and 7 new species of triopsids (Crustacea), and 3 new ichnogenera and 7 new ichnospecies of trace fossils. Yang led the 2nd IGCP working on the P-Tr mass extinction in the world. His group's excellent works on basic stratigraphy and paleontology enable the GSSP of P-Tr boundary (PTB) to be ratified in China. Yang's earlier works on three-episode extinction pattern and volcanism-causing extinction hypothesis are also highlighted here to show how their first-hand data and initiative hypothesis have influenced the current and ongoing debates on the P-Tr crisis and possible causation. Yang school's extinction pattern is reviewed here, and their 2nd phase of extinction is marked by a dramatic loss in biodiversity, pointing to a widely accepted mass extinction. The 3rd extinction is characterized by ecological collapse of ecosystem structures and disappearance of the PTB microbialite ecosystem, while the 1st extinction (also prelude extinction) is indicated by the collapses of deep-water and reef ecosystems. Updated studies show that the volcanic ashes near the PTB originated from silicic, subduction-related igneous activity with little or no basaltic input. This subduction zone activity is related to closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, and the intensity and frequency of the volcanic activity appear to increase near the P-Tr extinction interval. Hg anomalies (Hg/TOC ratios and Hg isotopes) were also detected from the P-Tr extinction interval, and they are interpreted as the results of enhanced volcanic-generated atmospheric mercury, which was injected by the violate eruption of the Siberian traps. Thus, the peak felsic volcanism is coeval with violate eruption of Siberian traps, and the coupled relationship between both types of volcanisms and biotic extinction suggests a causal relationship.

Altaethyrella(Brachiopoda) from the Late Ordovician of the Tarim Basin, Northwest China, and its significance

AbstractAltaethyrella tarimensis, a new species of rhynchonellide brachiopod, is described from the late Katian (Late Ordovician) Hadabulaktag Formation in the Kuruktag region of Xinjiang, Northwest China on the northeastern edge of the Tarim Basin. Serial sections of the shell clearly show no dorsal median septum or septalium in the dorsal valve, and no spiralia or atrypide-style crura. Like other species of the genus,A.tarimensisn. sp. exhibits a high degree of intraspecific variation, including variations in shell shape and size, number of ribs in the sulcus at the anterior, and degree of asymmetry. The discovery ofAltaethyrellain Tarim has important paleogeographic implications, indicating a close relationship between the Late Ordovician brachiopod faunas of Tarim and those of the Kazakh terranes and North and South China paleoplates, supporting a recently published paleogeographic projection that places Tarim near the Chu-Ili terrane during the Late Ordovician. The abundant large biconvex shells ofA.tarimensisn. sp. would have provided a firm substrate for encrusting filter feeders like bryozoans to establish on the Kuruktag Platform.UUID:http://zoobank.org/df8843cd-4db0-48e7-ba03-bf0ce81c4f01

Extreme reduction of morphological characters: a type of brachidial development found in several Late Cretaceous and Recent brachiopod species-new relationships between taxa previously listed as incertae sedis.

Size reduction and development of a simplified brachidial structure occurred several times during the long evolution of the Phylum Brachiopoda. Even Recent forms may be micromorphic and paedomorphic with reduced brachidia or none at all. A revision of the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) Terebratella (Morrisia?) suessi Bosquet, 1859 has allowed us to erect a new genus, Jagtithyris gen. nov., because its singular brachidium development does not match any platidiid structure. Such a brachidium has also been observed in another European Late Cretaceous brachiopod, which indicates that this type was not a unique morphological curiosity. This species is the micromorphic Campanian-Maastrichtian Leptothyrellopsis polonicus Bitner Pisera, 1979, which has brachidial structures in common with Jagtithyris suessi comb. nov., although a number of differences have been observed. The genera Leptothyrellopsis and Jagtithyris gen. nov., are included in a new family, Jagtithyrididae fam. nov. During an ongoing revision of extant brachiopod faunas we have been led to recognize a link between this family and representatives of the genus Simplicithyris Zezina, 1976. The taxonomic position of this peculiar group is also discussed.

Recent brachiopods collected during the ZhongSha 2015 expedition to the South China Sea, West Pacific

ABSTRACTFourteen species of Recent brachiopods belonging to the genera Novocrania, Basiliola, Acanthobasiliola, Gryphus, Zygonaria, Terebratulina, Eucalathis, Laqueus, Frenulina, Annuloplatidia, Phaneropora, Dallina and Campages have been identified in the samples collected during the French–Taiwanese ZhongSha 2015 expedition to the South China Sea, West Pacific. Five species were already described from this region. The remaining species represent first records for the South China Sea, among them two species, Annuloplatidia curiosa and Phaneropora galatheae are recorded for the first time in the northern hemisphere.

New Brachiopod Species Leurosina katasumiensis (Chonetida) from the Kungurian Katasumi Limestone of the Kusu Area, Central Japan

A new brachiopod species, Leurosina katasumiensis sp. nov. (order Chonetida, family Rugosochonetidae, subfamily Rugosochonetinae), is described from the Kungurian Stage (Lower Permian, Nabeyama Formation) of central Japan.