Lophophaena nadezdae Petrushevskaya, 1971

Trubovitz, Sarah, Renaudie, Johan, Lazarus, David & Noble, Paula, 2022, Late Neogene Lophophaenidae (Nassellaria, Radiolaria) from the eastern equatorial Pacific, Zootaxa 5160 (1), pp. 1-158 : 63-64

Lophophaena nadezdae Petrushevskaya, 1971

Plate 23, Figs 1A – 2C .

Lithomelissa cf. galeata Ehrenberg, Benson, 1966 , pl. 24, figs. 16–17 (non fig. 18).

Lophophaena nadezdae n. sp., Petrushevskaya, 1971, pl. 60, figs. 1–4.

Lophophaena variabilis Popofsky, Van de Paverd, 1995 , pl. 65, figs. 5–6, 11.

Lophophaena buetschlii Haeckel, Van de Paverd, 1995 , pl. 65, figs. 3–4 (non fig. 10).

Lophophaena nadezdae Petrushevskaya, Trubovitz et al., 2020, supplementary data 7.

Remarks. Despite its abundance in our samples, this species is not commonly cited in the literature. Following Petrushevskaya (1971), we consider this species to have an elongated spiny cephalis with indistinct neck area, and a broad thorax (~2x the cephalis width) with numerous ribs and extended spines. Illustrations published under the names Lithomelissa cf. galeata Ehrenberg ( Benson, 1966) , Lophophaena variabilis Popofsky ( Van de Paverd, 1995) , and Lophophaena buetschlii Haeckel ( Van de Paverd, 1995) best fit the description of Lophophaena nadezdae in our opinion, so these specimens are included in our synonymy.

Range. Late Miocene—Recent, EEP ( Table 1 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Diagram illustrating the general skeletal morphology of Lophophaenidae, and terminology used in this manuscript. Dashed lines indicate spines that are not visible from the angle shown, as they extend into the skeleton. An example specimen of Lophophaena casperi n. sp. is included for comparison to the diagrams.

FIGURE 2. Relative abundance of specimens and taxa belonging to Plagiacanthoidea and Lophophaenidae per sample, from IODP Site U1337 in the EEP over the last ~10 Ma. The relative percentages of total taxa are represented by the blue lines and the red lines represent the percentages of total specimens (triangles = Plagiacanthoidea; circles = Lophophaenidae). The Plagiacanthoidea was among the most abundant and speciose of radiolarian groups encountered in Trubovitz et al. (2020), with at least 10% of the specimens and 20% of the taxonomic richness in every sample. Within the Plagiacanthoidea, lophophaenids consistently made up the majority of specimens (~67%) and taxa (~61%). Data are from Trubovitz et al. (2020).