Clionolithes alcicornis Wisshak 2017, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Wisshak, Max
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Clionaida
Clionaidae
Clionolithes
Clionolithes alcicornis

description: Clionolithes alcicornis (Vogel, Golubic & Brett, 1987) comb. nov.
Fig. 9
Ramodendrina alcicornis Vogel et al., 1987: 272, fig. 6.
Clionolithes bullahirsuta Plewes, 1996: 178, pl. 27, figs 3–7, pl. 28, figs 1–8.
Ramodendrina – Vogel 1987: fig. 5.
Original diagnosis
Rosette-shaped repeatedly branched systems up to 2 mm (1.41 ± 0.34 [16]) in diameter. Branches diverge from the main trunk spreading radially, curved in a characteristic clawlike fashion at angles ranging from 40° to 115° (72 ± 17 [50]). The main trunk is 75–190 µm (142 ± 40 [7]) wide. The primary branches range from 53 to 136 µm (95 ± 19 [50]), the secondary branches from 31 to 66 µm (51 ± 11 [50]), and the tertiary branches from 12 to 45 µm (26 ± 9 [37]) in diameter. They have smooth and rounded surfaces, and are circular in cross section. The branches taper toward pointed tips. There is a significant decrease in diameter from primary to secondary and tertiary (distal) branches, and the diameter between individual branching points remains constant or decreases. The branching varies in density, without anastomoses. The main aperture to the surface was not detected.
Emended diagnosis
Branches diverge from the flat and elongated main trunk, spreading radially and in one plane, often in straight lines, ramifying in varying density at angles between 40° and 115° without forming anastomoses, tapering toward pointed tips. Often with a distinctive cuspate texture and fine filaments scattered over the entire surface, but most numerous on the edges and sides of the branches.
Original description
n/a, but see detailed original diagnosis.
Supplementary description
When erecting the junior synonym (and nomen nudum) C. bullahirsuta, Plewes (1996) made the following additional observations, particularly concerning the surface texture that is only poorly preserved in the Devonian holotype: “The overall oval shape and the characteristic texture of the trace are constant attributes (although the presence of the texture is dependent on the preservation and the quality of the cast). Whole rosette up to 3 mm in diameter. Even within the holotype the branches vary in their morphology, and frequency. However, there are recurring features: branches may have a sweeping shape and taper towards the pointed, but not filamentous, ends. Although branches do anastomose, sometimes they do not fuse and appear on the casts as still separate. The width of branches varies between 40 µm and 170 µm with a mean of 93 µm (n = 16, SD = 48.52). Some specimens show a curious loop on one side. The pseudochip sculpture is also highly variable and measured across the widest point can be up to 50 µm or as small as 7 µm the average is 18 µm (n = 19, SD = 9.99). The hairs also vary in length, although this is probably due more to the preservation of the substrate than variation between individuals. The width of the hairs is more constant, with a mean of 2.5 µm (n = 15, SD = 0.92).”
Type material, locality and horizon
The holotype (Fig. 9 A–B) was epoxy cast in a Mediospirifer brachiopod shell from the Windom Member, Middle Devonian, sampled at Barnum Creek quarry just W of NY highway 89 and 0.2 km S of the Ovid/Romulus town line, Seneca County, New York, USA. It is deposited at the Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany (Bo 1/8).
Remarks
Originally established within the ichnogenus Ramodendrina, which is a junior synonym of Clionolithes. The nomen nudum (not formally published) Clionolithes bullahirsuta Plewes, 1996, from the Lower Jurassic of Yorkshire, UK, is herein regarded as a junior synonym.
Differs from other ichnospecies of Clionolithes by its wide and straight central trunk, the flat overall morphology, with an orientation of the entire trace more or less along the same plane parallel to the substrate surface, the often straight path of the ramifying galleries, and (if preserved) the distinctive cuspate microsculpture (Fig. 9 D–E).
description: Published as part of Wisshak, Max, 2017, Taming an ichnotaxonomical Pandora's box: revision of dendritic and rosetted microborings (ichnofamily: Dendrinidae), pp. 1-99 in European Journal of Taxonomy 390 (390) on pages 32-34, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2017.390, http://zenodo.org/record/3839858