An Upper Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) tube-building hydractinian (Psammoactinia antarctica n. gen. and sp.) from Sanctuary Cliffs, Snow Hill Island, believed to live in association with hermit crabs, is described for the first time from Antarctica. Psammoactinia forms thick, concentric, globular colonies that encrust gastropod shells and extend the shell aperture by forming an open spiral tube. The colony consists of concentric layers with chambers and pillars made of silt and very fine sand grains agglutinated by collophane, which is interpreted as a diagenetic modification of an original chitinous phosphatic material. On the basis of the additional finding of isolated claws of pagurid crabs, assigned to Paguristes sp., the functional analysis of the hydractinian structure, and a comparison with modern and fossil analogous structures it is concluded that the peculiar hydractinian tube is a carcinoecium that housed a symbiotic hermit crab.

Paleoenvironmental and paleoecological inferences suggest that the Psammoactinia–Paguristes association is mainly controlled by a fine-grained substrate and by a lack of abundant gastropod shells of different sizes. These factors do not necessarily correlate with absolute water depth, and favorable environments could include either offshore, relatively deep water or shallow restricted depositional settings.

Solitary species of Heliophyllum are the most common form of the genus but branching and massive colonies do occur, especially in Middle Devonian strata of eastern North America. Heliophyllum delicatum n. sp. offsets laterally and has a dendroid, broad bushy growth form. The species is known only from western and west-central New York and appears to be limited to the lower part of the Deep Run Shale Member of the Moscow Formation (middle Givetian); specimens are common within this restricted geographic and stratigraphic range. The skeleton of H. delicatum was poorly designed for the common coral environments of the Devonian, but seems to have been well adapted to muddy, carbonate-poor conditions where its thin skeletal elements required less calcium carbonate and its unsupported branches were not subject to vigorous water movement.

Heliophyllum stewarti n. sp. is based on a single specimen from the Tenmile Creek Dolomite (middle Givetian) in northwestern Ohio. The colony is phaceloid but each branch is an astreoid cluster without walls between individual corallites. In addition, the apparent protocorallite is turbinate with a larger diameter than any of the ceratoid offsets although offset lengths are several times that of the protocorallite.

Species-level taxonomy of fenestrate cryptostome bryozoans has been greatly advanced by a recent study of the fenestrate fauna of the Warsaw Formation (Osage–Meramecian) of the Mississippi Valley; subsequent quantitative analysis placed the earlier research on a sound statistical basis. Reproducibility of these results is tested here, and it is demonstrated that subsequent researchers can duplicate earlier data collection and results. The methodology is then extended in space and time to a second fenestrate faunule (Virgilian of east-central Kansas); morphs within two traditionally defined fenestrate species are successfully distinguished.

Lithologic characteristics of the two Virgilian study units suggest differences in depositional environments between the horizons and therefore simple ecophenotypy and intraspecific variation cannot be dismissed. However, chamber dimensions, which provide the most sensitive characters for taxonomic discrimination, change in parallel for the two species, whereas exterior skeletal dimensions, which would presumably respond more readily to microenvironmental fluctuations, vary nonsystematically between populations. These results provide a starting point for the evaluation of morphologic change within fenestrates through stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental sequences. Cumulative data sets spanning long time intervals would allow evaluations of evolutionary histories among members of this important Paleozoic clade.

The lingulid brachiopod species Bicarinatina kongakutensis n. sp. is recorded here from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Ulungarat unit in Arctic Alaska. A restudy of the type species, Bicarinatina bicarinata (Kutorga) from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) of Eastern Europe, suggests close affinities to the Ordovician genus Pseudolingula and gives good reason to assign Bicarinatina to the family Pseudolingulidae. There are no important points of difference in the morphologies of Bicarinatina and the Early Carboniferous lingulid genus Liralingua and, thus, both genera have been synonymized.

Foliomena folium (Barrande) and other very small, thin-shelled brachiopods from the Pyle Mountain Argillite in Aroostook County, Maine, provide the only record of the presence of the Foliomena fauna in North America. Associated fossils include numerous small trilobites and a few specimens of other groups. An Ashgill age is established by the presence of graptolites of the Climacograptus spiniferous Zone in the underlying Winterville Formation.

Most of the 190 specimens are small strophomenaceans and plectambonitaceans. One of the most numerous is the christianiid Nubialba forbesi n. gen. and sp. that has ribs and elaborately developed internal features. In the absence of evidence to contradict previous interpretations that the Foliomena fauna records cold-water environments, the presence of one or more deep basins along the southeastern margin of the trans-equatorial North American paleoplate occupied by cool peri-Gondwanan waters during a short segment of Ashgill time is implied.

A new species of the genus Droharhynchia Sartenaer is established from lower Eifelian strata of west-central Alaska and the northwestern Brooks Range of Alaska. Droharhynchia rzhonsnitskayae n. sp. occurs in the Cheeneetnuk Limestone of the McGrath A-5 quadrangle, west-central Alaska, and the Baird Group of the Howard Pass B-5 quadrangle, northwestern Alaska. These occurrences extend the lower biostratigraphic range of both the genus and the subfamily Hadrorhynchiinae into the Eifelian. They also suggest close geographic proximity of the Farewell terrane of southwestern and west-central Alaska and the Arctic Alaska superterrane of northern Alaska during Devonian time.

The brachiopod genus Verneuilia Hall and Clarke, 1893, is recognized for the first time in North America, where it is represented by a new species described here, V. langenstrasseni. This occurrence not only extends the geographic range of the genus, but also the lower age and stratigraphic limit into the Eifelian (early Middle Devonian). Previously, the oldest known species was the type, V. cheiropteryx d'Archiac and de Verneuil, 1842, from the Givetian (late Middle Devonian) of Germany. Internal structures of V. langenstrasseni n. sp. are similar to those of genera in the ambocoeliid subfamily Rhynchospiriferinae, providing the first good evidence of a systematic relationship.

A new brachiopod genus Cooperrhynchia is described for the species originally designated “Rhynchonella” schucherti Stanton, 1895, from the so-called Knoxville beds of northern California. A lectotype is selected for Cooperrhynchia schucherti (Stanton). An isolated carbonate lens within deep-water turbidites of the Great Valley Group (Jurassic–Cretaceous) yielded the brachiopod fossils near the town of Paskenta, western Sacramento Valley. The associated bivalve fauna indicates a mid late Tithonian age for the locality. Mollusks and the rhynchonellids Cooperrhynchia and Peregrinella are known from several scattered limestone lenses within Great Valley strata; collectively, these faunas and carbonate patches represent cold seep-associations that developed in forearc basins along the tectonically active northeast Pacific convergent margin during the late Mesozoic.

Description of two new specimens of Macroscenella superba (Billings) provides additional data on this rare, poorly known Paleozoic genus. Macroscenella was considered first to be a gastropod, then a monoplacophoran, and finally a coelenterate. Chondrophorine affinities for this form cannot be totally ruled out, but the new specimens increase the probability that it is a mollusk. If so, Macroscenella is more likely a patellacean gastropod than a member of any other group of the Mollusca, though evidence for placement within the Mollusca is equivocal; the interior of the specimens is not exposed and musculature is unknown. If the integument was a shell, it was thin.

GONIAT is designed as tool for investigations on the systematics of the Paleozoic ammonoids, their paleogeographic distribution, and their biostratigraphic range. This data base management system provides not only determinations based on morphological characteristics, but also information on occurrence, duration, literature, and phylogenetic relationships of every taxon of family, genus, and species levels. GONIAT is a relational data base. It consists of six independent data bases connected by three link information files: TAX for taxonomy, MORPHA and MORPHB for all distinctive morphological characters in adult or early and middle growth stages, LIT for literature, LOC for localities, and BOUND for biostratigraphy. In order to provide relevant time planes that can be used on a worldwide scale, radiometric dates as well as biostratigraphic names are used.

The condensed Upper Albian to Lower Cenomanian deposits of the Helvetic Shelf of France and Switzerland yield diverse ammonite faunas including representatives of the family Lyelliceratidae, subfamily Stoliczkaiinae that is the origin of the Upper Cretaceous Acanthoceratidae and its descendants, as well as representatives of the dwarf stoliczkaiine offshoot, the family Flickiidae, subfamily Salaziceratinae. The following are described and referred to the Upper Albian Mortoniceras inflatum Zone: Neophlycticeras (N.) brottianum (d'Orbigny, 1841), N. (N.) rhodanense Delamette, 1983, N. (Protissotia) itierianum (d'Orbigny, 1841), and Zuluscaphites helveticus n. sp. From the Upper Albian Stoliczkaia dispar Zone come Neophlycticeras (N.) blancheti (Pictet and Campiche, 1859), N. (Paradolphia) priscum Casey, 1965, Stoliczkaia (5.) notha (Seeley, 1865), S. (S.) tenuis Renz, 1968, S. (Lamnayella) tetragona Neumayr, 1875, Cenisella bonnetiana Pictet, 1847, Zuluscaphites orycteropusi Van Hoepen, 1955, Salaziceras (S.) salazacense (Hébert and Munier-Chalmas, 1875), and S. (S.) breistrofferi Scholz, 1979. The Lower Cenomanian Mantelliceras mantelli Zone, Neostlingoceras carcitanense Subzone yields Stoliczkaia (Stoliczkaia) villoutreysi Casey, 1965, S. (Lamnayella) tetragona Neumayr, 1875, and S. (Shumarinaia) hashimotoi Matsumoto and Inoma, 1975.

The Mount Laurel Sand at Biggs Farm, Delaware, yielded a diverse ammonite fauna comprising Pachydiscus (Pachydiscus) sp., Placenticeras cf. P. placenta (DeKay, 1828), Placenticeras n. sp., Eulophoceras sp., Nostoceras (Nostoceras) draconis Stephenson, 1941, Didymoceras cheyennense (Meek and Hayden, 1856a), Anaklinoceras reflexum Stephenson, 1941, Anaklinoceras tenuicostatum n. sp., Oxybeloceras meekanum (Whitfield, 1877), Solenoceras annulifer Morton, 1841, Baculites ovatus Say, 1820, B. undatus Stephenson, 1941, Hoploscaphites vistulensis Błaszkiewicz, 1980, and Jeletzkytes compressus (Roemer, 1841). The last named two species occur in Europe and indicate an upper but not uppermost upper Campanian horizon. Several species also occur in the Western Interior and suggest correlation with the Didymoceras cheyennense zone and part of the Baculites compressus zone of the upper Campanian in that region.

Corynexochid trilobites of the Cambrian of Morocco are described and the subfamily Acontheinae is revised. With Kootenia beethoveni n. sp., Kootenia spp. indet., Strettonia sp. A, Clavigellus annulus n. gen. and sp., and gen. et sp. incert., the Moroccan Corynexochida comprise only a few forms that are almost exclusively restricted to the High Atlas Mountains. Biogeographical relationships are weak; strong relationships may exist with the faunas of the Shropshire area as already exemplified by some eodiscid and ellipsocephalid taxa.

This paper describes new species of Ostracoda from Late Cretaceous (late Santonian) oyster reefs of the Eutaw Formation of eastern Alabama. The reefs are composed almost exclusively of Ostrea cretacea Morton, with rarer occurrences of the oysters Exogyra upatoiensis Stephenson and Lopha ucheensis (Stephenson) and the bivalve Anomia preolmstedi Stephenson. Total thickness of the reefs is about 30 m, and the reefs are a major topographic feature across most of Macon and Russell Counties, Alabama, a distance of about 60 km. The reefs are interpreted to have been backbarrier sediments deposited under brackish conditions.

Eight species of ostracodes are identified, including five new species described herein. The fauna is typically well preserved, and includes males, females, and juveniles. New species include Haplocytheridea? eutawensis, Antibythocypris dimorphicus, A. nephotrema, Brachycythere asymmetrica, and Eocytheropteron mutafoveata. Also discussed and illustrated are Cytherella tuberculifera Alexander, Haplocytheridea renfroensis renfroensis Crane, and Fissocarinocythere gapensis (Alexander).

The stem (column plus attachment structure) of the extant, Pacific bourgueticrinine crinoid Phrynocrinus nudus A. H. Clark is described, and some notes provided on the crown. The attachment structure is a simple, terminal discoidal holdfast, typical of an obligate encruster of hard substrates and probably derived neotenously from the attached larval stage of an ancestral isocrinid. The column is long and composed of robust columnals. Unlike isocrinids, the mesistele, rather than the proxistele, is the most flexible part of the column. The proximale columnal has an inflexible articulation with the basals; a new proximale grows irregularly between these ossicles. Articulation between the proximale and columnal 2 is synostosial, but all more distal articulations are synarthrial. Proximally and in the dististele, articular facets are rounded, but for much of the column facets are strongly elliptical with offsets approaching 90° in many columnals. However, offset of fulcra is variable between columnals, indicating that it is not a consistently useful criterion for separating species in the bourgueticrinines.

The recovery of fully sclerotized specimens of the retiolitid Agastograptus robustus Obut and Zaslavskaya permits the recognition of the relationship between the sicula and thecae 11 and 12 for the first time, and demonstrates unequivocally that the ancora sleeve (the “clathria” of earlier literature) is not homologous with the outer wall of normal diplograptaceans, but is a structure unique to Silurian retiolitids. The study supports earlier proposals that Silurian retiolitids arose, cladogenetically, from Pattern I, ancorate diplograptaceans by distal extension of the ancora/corona, to form the ancora sleeve, but further suggests that the sclerotization of the original diplograptacean outer wall (corresponding to the inner wall of the retiolitid of this study) was suppressed.

Based on biostratigraphic investigations in the eastern Siljan district, central Sweden, and combined with earlier studies at Hunneberg, south-central Sweden, it is shown that the early post-Tremadoc-age Paroistodus proteus conodont Zone can be divided into four successive subzones. These are, in ascending order: the Drepanoistodus aff. D. amoenus Subzone; the Tripodus Subzone; the Paracordylodus gracilis Subzone; and the Oelandodus elongatus-Acodus deltatus deltatus Subzone. The lowermost of the subzones is a concurrent range zone, with its reference section at Storeklev, Hunneberg, and the other three interval zones with the reference section at Sjurberg in the eastern Siljan district. Correlations between these two areas, as well as with the Flåsjö area, Jämtland, the Finngrundet core, and some other areas, are discussed, and it is concluded that the Drepanoistodus aff. D. amoenus Subzone and the Tripodus Subzone together correspond to the Megistaspis (Ekeraspis) armata trilobite Zone, and occur below the Hunnegraptus copiosus graptolite Zone. The Paracordylodus gracilis Subzone is equivalent with the lower part of the Megistaspis (Varvaspis) planilimbata trilobite Zone, and may correspond to the Hunnegraptus copiosus Zone. The uppermost subzone, the Oelandodus elongatus-Acodus deltatus deltatus Subzone, equals the upper part of the M. (V.) planilimbata Zone, and the local base of the Tetragraptus phyllograptoides graptolite Zone is close to the base of this conodont subzone. The last occurrences of T. phyllograptoides are close to the top of this conodont subzone. Also included in the investigation are the uppermost part of the uppermost Tremadoc Paltodus deltifer Zone and the conodont zones overlying the P. proteus Zone in the eastern Siljan district, the Prioniodus elegans Zone and the Oepikodus evae Zone; the latter zone corresponds to the trilobite zones of Megalaspides (M.) dalecarlicus and Megistaspis (Varvaspis) estonica. A few samples from the superimposed Baltoniodus triangularis, B. navis, and Paroistodus originalis Zones have been investigated and are described as well. The correlation of these conodont zones and subzones with those of areas outside Baltoscandia, particularly North America, is also discussed.

The St. George Group in western Newfoundland is nearly 600 m thick and is subdivided into the Watts Bight, Boat Harbour, Catoche, and Aguathuna Formations. The group is a nearly complete Lower Ordovician succession representing about 15–20 m.y. The depositional environment of the St. George Group is represented by three main lithofacies (supratidal, peritidal, and subtidal), expressed as two first-order cycles and five second-order cycles.

In the study of St. George Group conodonts, over 70 multielement species are represented in 45,000 conodont specimens from 432 samples of 10 sections. Computer cluster analysis of most of those samples on the basis of similarity of conodont species was used to determine conodont community structure. Both the principal coordinate analysis (PCA) partitioning method and the agglomerative method (UPGMA with Bray-Curtis) were chosen for the statistical analysis. The four lithological formations and five secondary lithological cycles in the St. George Group emerge as distinct entities when the samples are clustered together on the basis of conodont data for analysis of first-order and second-order variations in community composition.

Two deeper water, five shallow-water, and five intermediate communities through this time interval are recognized. The majority of conodonts from these communities are of Midcontinent Realm affinities, but some species represent strong North Atlantic Realm influxes during the transgressive periods.

Conodont faunas with species of Ancyrodella are described from the upper Penn Yan Shale (Crosby Sandstone) and Genundewa Limestone of the middle Genesee Formation between Keuka Lake and Lake Erie. Three established species and three new species in the early phylogeny of Ancyrodella are discussed: A. rotundiloba (Bryant) early form, A. rotundiloba late form, A. crosbiensis n. sp., A. recta n. sp., A. triangulata n. sp., A. rugosa Branson and Mehl, and A. alata? Glenister and Klapper. Standardization of the taxonomic concepts pertaining to these species (and others in the genus) is necessary to ensure their continued biostratigraphic usefulness. The sequence of faunas in New York correlates well with the lower Frasnian sequence and numbered conodont zones described by Klapper (1985, 1989) in the Montagne Noire, France. A fauna with the late form of Ancyrodella rotundiloba and A. crosbiensis n. sp. in the Crosby Sandstone of the upper Penn Yan Shale correlates with Zone 2 of Klapper (1989). The Crosby fauna succeeds a Zone 1 fauna with the early form of Ancyrodella rotundiloba in the lower Penn Yan Shale. The Crosby fauna is succeeded in turn by a fauna in the upper Genundewa Limestone with A. recta n. sp., A. triangulata n. sp., A. rugosa, and A. alata?, which is correlated with Zone 3 even though the zonal markers, A. alata sensu stricto and typical forms of A. rugosa, first occur in the lower part of the overlying West River Shale.

Comparisons between Phycosiphon incertum Fischer-Ooster (1858) and Anconichnus horizontalis Kern (1978) show that these two monotypic ichnogenera do not differ significantly in geometry, size, sediment fill, and environmental occurrence. Therefore, taxonomic priority has to be given to Phycosiphon and Anconichnus becomes a subjective junior synonym. The trace fossil is a small, highly lobed spreite structure produced by a zoned backfill consisting of a pale mantle and dark core. In a few cases, a meniscate structure is visible in the core. The spreite sediment is an extension of the mantle material; it commonly is poorly visible. The spreite-producing behavior may be locally interrupted, leaving a single tube of backfill. The spatial arrangement of the trace fossils seems to depend on the host sediment; in muddy and homogeneous material the lobes tend to be oriented randomly, including vertically, whereas in laminated sand and silty sediments they tend to lie parallel to bedding. This latter orientation is exaggerated by compaction. Textural differences between host sediment and spreite or mantle may be subtle and not always evident. Observations in modern sediments are in agreement with the type material of both ichnogenera.