Abstract
The very common and species-rich Scleractinian genus Actinastrea (family Actinastraeidae, suborder Archeocaeniina) is revised on the basis of the type material of its type species and additional material from the type locality. A lectotype is designated for the type species. It was discovered that Jurassic to Early Cretaceous corals currently assigned to Actinastrea do not fit into the concept of this genus. These species belong to the genus Stelidioseris, which is also revised on the basis of the type of the type species, including designating a lectotype. These two genera are distinguished by various characteristics: septal external parts are swollen in Actinastrea but not in Stelidioseris, the costae are confluent in Stelidioseris but not in Actinastrea, the coenosteum is granulated in Actinastrea but narrow than in Actinastrea and only with costae in Stelidioseris. Actinastrea is restricted to the Late Cretaceous (Late Turonian—Maastrichtian), whereas Stelidioseris originates in the Jurassic and reaches into the Late Cretaceous, but is less common from the Turonian on.
Kurzfassung
Die sehr häufige und artenreiche Korallengattung Actinastrea (Familie Actinastraeidae, Unterordnung Archeocaeniina) wird auf der Basis des Typusmaterials ihrer Typusart und weiterem Material von der Typuslokalität revidiert. Ein Lectotypus wird für die Typusart festgelegt. Es hat sich herausgestellt, dass gegenwärtig zu Actinastrea gestellte Arten des Jura und der Unterkreide nicht dem Konzept der Gattung entsprechen. Diese Arten gehören in die Gattung Stelidioseris, die gleichfalls auf der Basis des Typus ihrer Typusart revidiert wird unter der Festlegung eines Lectotypus. Die beiden Gattungen unterscheiden sich durch verschiedene Merkmale: die externen Abschnitte der Septen sind verdickt bei Actinastrea aber nicht bei Stelidioseris, die Rippen sind konfluent bei Stelidioseris, aber nicht bei Actinastrea, das Coenosteum ist granuliert bei Actinastrea, bei Stelidioseris dagegen ist es schmaler als bei Actinastrea und besteht nur aus den Rippen. Actinastrea ist auf die Oberkreide (Oberturon—Maastricht) beschränkt, während Stelidioseris erstmals im Jura auftritt und bis in die Oberkreide reicht, aber ab Turon selten ist.
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Acknowledgments
The decision to separate Early and Late Cretaceous Actinastreids into two genera was only possible after having studied a large amount of type and topotypical material in many collections in Asia, Europe and the USA. This would not have been possible without the encouragement and help of the collection managers and curators of the respective collections. I am particularly grateful to Jacob Leloux (Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands) and Paul Shepherd (British Geological Survey, Keyworth, England). Understanding microstructural features of Actinastrea was greatly assisted by Matthias Heinrich (Eckental), who carefully prepared numerous samples from the Austrian Gosau group. Jacob Leloux (Leiden) is thanked for commenting on an early draft of the paper. The research group Paléontologie A 16 (Porrentruy, Switzerland), particularly Jens Koppka, provided information and images of type material held in the Musée jurassien des Sciences naturelles (Porrentruy). The paper was enhanced by reviews by Jacob Leloux (Leiden) and Bogdan Kolodziej (Kraków). For grammatical correction I would like to thank Brian Hallmark (Tucson).
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Löser, H. Revision of Actinastrea, the most common Cretaceous coral genus. Paläontol Z 86, 15–22 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-011-0110-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-011-0110-4