A new diatom genus and species, Australodiscus peruvianus
Porguen et Sullivan, is described from an Eocene marine deposit
from the
Paracas Peninsula, Peru. The valve outline is stellate with ocelli and
rimoportulae situated singly on alternate points of the star. The
rimoportulae are winged and situated on a secondary marginal ridge. Three
types
of spines are present; two of these are also winged.
Our new form appears to be best placed for the present in the centric
family Triceratiaceae (Schütt) Lemmermann, being most closely
related to the type genus Triceratium Ehrenberg and Grovea
A. Schmidt.