This paper records a new sessile cirripede from a nearshore, shallow-water facies at Předboj near Prague, Czech Republic. The new taxon, Archaeochionelasmus nekvasilovae gen. et sp. nov., is the earliest known neobalanoform barnacle, and while it may have been an obligate commensal of a cephalopod or marine reptile, that it was a shore barnacle cannot be ruled out. (Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:177CC951-CEC1-425C-B693-46ADB83BD5D9)
A new species of acorn barnacle, Actinobalanus? sloveniensis, is recorded from Oligocene and Miocene deposits in Slovenia, representing the first record of extinct balanoids attached to plant remains from this country, and in fact from the entire central Paratethys. Assemblages
available include more than 200 specimens attached to tree branches and/or roots from a cypress forest (Taxodioxylon) and from estuarine mangroves (Carapoxylon). A taphonomic interpreta- tion is provided, suggesting that some of these remains represent fragments that were dislodged
during a storm event and quickly embedded in what were likely to have been anoxic sediments.
Primitive brachyurans and other decapods have been extensively reported from deposits of Oxfordian age, often termed microbial-sponge and coral megafacies distributed across the entirety of Europe. During the Oxfordian, coral reefs were far less common than microbial-sponge build-ups. The occurrences of decapods associated with such coral facies include those in France, Romania and the Czech Republic. Regarding the Czech Republic, the assemblage from the Stránská skála Hill has been evaluated; it is composed of at least six species including Gastrosacus wetzleri, Eomunidopsis cf. E. neojurensis, Longodromites angustus, Goniodromites narinosus, Goniodromites serratus and Eodromites grandis. Besides the dorsal carapace material, isolated chelae are described as well. As they are not preserved in direct association with taxonomically significant carapaces, they are treated in open nomenclature. Differential diversity of decapods at Stránská skála is relatively low compared to slightly younger Tithonian coral-associated assemblages from Romania. Out of 36 studied specimens, three bear a swelling on the branchial region interpreted to be a result of an isopod infestation. The relatively high percentage of infestation (8.33%) can be explained by collection bias since carapaces with bopyriform swellings can be considered more attractive to collectors. • Key words: Oxfordian, Czech Republic, Decapoda, differential diversity, bopyrid infestation.
Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) allows non-invasive imaging of internal structures of various objects. Micro-CT devices (x-ray microscope, CT scanner) utilize x-rays to see inside the object and enable its three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. Here, a large set of shells (>60 specimens) of varying composition and origin were visualized using micro-CT to test its efficiency for investigation of (micro-)borings and other colonization structures. The set covered various materials and structures of marine shells, from the Ordovician to recent, some of them being influenced by diagenetic changes; it comprised internal moulds of invertebrate body fossils preserved in the siliceous nodules, bryozoan colony from marls to clayey limestones, epibiontic interactions of bryozoan colonies and conulariid specimens with apatitic periderm from clay limestones sediments, calcareous shells of platycerid gastropods from organodetritic limestones, microborings in peloidal grainstone, calcitic or calcitic/aragonitic serpulid tube worms, organic-walled lacustrine egg-like bodies, and recent foraminiferas from the Mediterranean. We focused on various structures from minute microborings to macroborings, burrows, and epibionts. Optimal settings of micro-CT devices for different types of shells combined with different types of borings and their fillings, burrows, and epibionts are suggested. Three-dimensional visualization of the surfaces of fossil shelled organisms using surface modelling is proposed. The main benefits of micro-CT include its non-destructive nature (measurements can be repeated, valuable specimens can be preserved for further studies, etc.) and reasonable 3D visualization of inner structures. On the other hand, resolutions of less than 1 µm cannot be effectively achieved, and this may limit studies on microborings by bacteria and certain fungi.
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