Fig. 53. Type figures of R. pilulifer, from Brady (1884) ORIGINAL DESIGNATION: Reophax pilulifer Brady, 1884 TYPE REFERENCE: Brady, H.B., 1884. Report on the foraminifera dredged by H.M.S. CHALLENGER during the years 1873-1876. In: Murray, J. (ed.) Reports of the scientific results of the voyage of the H.M.S. CHALLENGER. Zoology vol. 9, p. 292, pl. 30, figs. 18-20. TYPE SPECIMEN: Not originally designated. The syntype specimens from PORCUPINE Station 31 are housed in the micropaleontological collections of the British Museum (Natural History). Of the three specimens figured by Brady (1884), only the one in pl. 30, fig. 18 is preserved in the collection. This specimen is now given the separate BMNH number ZF 4878, from Slide ZF 2284, and is here designated the lectotype. The lectotype specimen is probably a microspheric individual, while paralectotypes are megalosphaeric. TYPE LEVEL: Recent. TYPE LOCALITY: PORCUPINE Station 31 in the North Atlantic, 1360 fathoms. DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES: Test robust, straight or curved, comprised of 3 to 5 rapidly enlarging chambers. Chambers are globular and only slightly envelop preceeding chambers. Wall coarse, comprised of a single layer of large sand grains in a matrix of finer grains. Cement organic, undifferentiated, inner and outer organic layers not observed (Bender, 1995). Aperture a round opening, situated on a low apertural shoulder, but without a neck. SIZE: The lectotype specimen is 2.16 mm in length, with a maximum width of 0.84 mm across the last chamber. The largest paralectotype specimen in Slide ZF 2284 is 2.64 mm long, 1.12 mm maximum width. Specimens from PORCUPINE Station 19 (54°53'N, 10°56'W, 1366 fathoms) which are probably metatypes, range in length up to 6.5 mm. Earland (1934) reported specimens from the Antarctic up to 5 mm in length. SYNONYMS: None verified. OBSERVED OCCURRENCES: Brady (1884) recorded R. pilulifer at four PORCUPINE stations in the NE Atlantic, at CHALLENGER Station 98 off West Africa (1750 fathoms), at two stations in the South Atlantic, and at five stations in the Pacific. It was subsequently reported by numerous authors from Cretaceous to Recent deposits throughout the world. The species is ubiquitous in areas of coarse substrate. Cushman (1920) listed it from seven ALBATROSS stations in the Atlantic ranging in depth from 420 to 2033 fathoms. Cushman (1921) recorded it from 13 ALBATROSS stations in the Philippine Sea between 208 and 1560 fathoms, but noted that these specimens are smaller than Atlantic specimens and "are not typical". In the Southern Ocean, Earland (1934) recorded it from 41 stations ranging in depth from 160 to 5029 m. Earland noted that it was most abundant at stations "of moderate depth" in the Bransfield Strait and Palmer Archipelago. Pflum (1966) found it at depths less than 668 m on the continental margin of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Schröder (1986) recorded R. pilulifer in samples from the Nova Scotian continental slope but not from the Nares Abyssal Plain. In the flysch units of the Polish Carpathians, the Middle Eocene Hieroglyphic beds contain a horizon with common R. pilulifer (Morgiel & Szymakowska, 1978). KNOWN STRATIGRAPHIC RANGE: Late Cretaceous to Recent. BATHYMETRY: Bathyal to abyssal areas with coarse substrate. REMARKS: The type specimens in the Carpenter and Brady Collections display a wide variation in the size of the test and in the composition and size of agglutinated particles. The paralectotypes from PORCUPINE Sta. 31 are of an average size (~2 mm), and the agglutinated grains comprising the wall are relatively well-sorted (see ZF 4879, 4880). Specimens from Porcupine Station 19 (ZF 4881-4883) are about three times larger, with as many as five chambers, and contain small planktonic foraminiferal tests incorporated in the wall together with coarse sand grains. One specimen from this station (ZF 4883) is attached to a large sand grain. The metatype specimen from CHALLENGER Station 346 (2350 fathoms in the equatorial Atlantic) has four chambers and is only 0.94 mm in length. Brady's specimens from CHALLENGER Station 98 off West Africa (1750 fathoms) have up to 8 chambers that increase in size slowly, and probably belong in another species. ILLUSTRATIONS: Plate 53 - Reophax pilulifer Brady Figs. 1-3. Recent, PORCUPINE Sta 31, North Atlantic, 1360 fathoms, W.B. Carpenter Collection, 1. Lectotype (BMNH ZF 4878, ex Slide 2284), 2. Paralectotype (BMNH ZF 4879, ex Slide 2284), 3. Paralectotype (BMNH ZF 4880, ex Slide 2284); Figs. 4-6. Recent, PORCUPINE Sta 19, North Atlantic, 1366 fathoms, W.B. Carpenter Collection, metatypes, 4. BMNH ZF 4881 (ex Slide 1886.1.16.53), 5. BMNH 4882 (ex Slide 1886.1.16.53), 6. BMNH 4883 (ex Slide 1886.1.16.53); Fig. 7. Campanian, Węglówka Poland, Subsilesian Unit of the Polish Carpathians; Figs. 8-9. Eocene, Korbielów Poland, Magura Unit of the Polish Carpathians, 8. megalosphaeric specimen, 9. microsphaeric specimen. 
|