Ferussina petofiana Páll-Gergely, 2023

Tang, Jin, Zhang, Gongaote, Guo, Junqi, Luo, Lingxuan, Jiang, Jiamei & Pan, Hongbo, 2023, Ferussina Petofiana Sp. N. (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Cyclophoridae), The Oldest Representative Of Its Subfamily From The Late Cretaceous Of Romania, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 69 (4), pp. 337-352 : 342-344

Ferussina petofiana Páll-Gergely sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ 6B11BD85-C451-43E6-BE23-7F467AE8B276 ( Figs 2–3 )

Type material: Holotype ( Fig. 2 ). LPB III g 10021, in the collections of the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics , University of Bucharest, Romania. The single available shell is relatively well preserved, but the dorsal side, and partly the ventral side of ca. half whorl of the body whorl is missing.

Type locality/stratum/age: K3 fossiliferous site, Neagului Creek, Vălioara, northwestern Hațeg Basin, Hunedoara County, Romania (see BOTFALVAI et al. 2021). The site is located in the basal part of the Middle Member of the Densuș-Ciula Formation ( GRIGORESCU 1992, CSIKI-SAVA et al. 2016), estimated to have an age of early early Maastrichtian.

Diagnosis: A small Ferussina species with a predominantly smooth sculpture, an oval aperture, and three sharp spiral carinae on the ventral side.

Description: Shell depressed with flat base, domed dorsal surface, and rounded or slightly shouldered body whorl; last ca. quarter whorl turns upright, elevating higher than apex; whorls 4.25, separated by a deep suture; protoconch ( Fig. 2G ) consisting of ca. 1.25 whorls, smooth, protoconch-teleoconch boundary conspicuous, teleoconch predominantly smooth, with inconspicuous, irregular radial growth lines, last ca. quarter whorl near the suture finely ribbed, and this fine ribbing is also visible between the spiral carinae on the ventral side ( Fig. 2H ); umbilicus blocked with sediment that could not be removed, therefore it is not clear whether it is open or closed (but very probably open); last ca. half whorl strongly enlarged in diameter, bears three elevated, main spiral carinae inside umbilicus ( Fig. 2D, H ); carinae continuous, run until peristome (see Fig. 2E ), not interrupted with radial ribs; area between the outermost and the middle carinae finely ribbed ( Fig. 2H ); a fourth, much lower carina is also visible; aperture oval ( Fig. 2E ), parietal side convex (not concave due to penultimate whorl); peristome is incomplete (the adult peristome is missing), therefore its morphology remains unknown.

Measurements: Shell diameter: 10.8 mm, shell height: 4.4 mm.

Differential diagnosis: All currently known Ferussina species are larger than 2 cm ( GRATELOUP 1827, DESHAYES 1828, LEUFROY 1828, DUMAS 1876, SANDBERGER 1870 –1875, SACCO 1886, ROMAN 1904, WENZ 1938–1944, SALVADOR et al.

on Fig. E indicate the positions of the spiral carinae

2016, PÁLL-GERGELY & NEUBAUER 2020), with the exception of Ferussina tricarinata from the Upper Oligocene in Germany (see KADOLSKY 2008), which is the only known species that can be as small as ca. 1 cm. However, that species has a stronger radial sculpture, presents only a single elevated spiral carina inside the umbilicus, and it also has one carina running along the edge of the body whorl ( KADOLSKY 2008, PÁLL-GERGELY & NEUBAUER 2020), differing in these respects from the Vălioara specimen discussed herein.

The species of the genus Strophostomella P. Fischer, 1883 , known from Hungarian [ S. cretacea ( Tausch, 1886) , S. fragilis ( Tausch, 1886) ] and Austrian [ S. reussi ( Stoliczka, 1860) ] uppermost Cretaceous deposits, possess semilunar apertures ( STOLICZKA 1860, TAUSCH 1886, BANDEL & RIEDEL 1994). Moreover, none of the three known Strophostomella species possesses elevated spiral carinae on their ventral (=umbilical) sides, and they have much stronger radial sculpture than the new species ( STOLICZKA 1860, TAUSCH 1886, BANDEL & RIEDEL 1994).

Etymology: This new species is dedicated to and named after SÁNDOR PETŐFI (1823– 1849), the National Poet of Hungary, to commemorate the bicentenary of his birth but also his presence in the Hațeg Basin roughly 174 years before the identification and description of the new taxon reported in this contribution. Petőfi apparently visited Hațeg in 14 April 1849 ( KRISTÓF 1944), and even wrote a poem while being there (Vajdahunyadon = At Hunedoara, transl. from Hungarian in original) ( DÁVID & MIKÓ 1972: 223). It is worth emphasizing that lines of this poem (albeit otherwise referring to an important Medieval historical character from Transylvania, János Hunyadi) are incidentally also highly evocative of the site of discovery of F. petofiana . These allude to a setting ‘from where I’m staring at the past’ and which ‘Is hidden from the eyes of the world/… not seen by others than,/from far away, the white-capped head of/ the mountains’ elder, the ancient Retezat’ (transl. from Hungarian in original), altogether forming a remarkably fitting description of site K3 near Vălioara where the holotype specimen was excavated, close to the foothills of, and overlooked from the distance by, the Retezat Mountains ( Fig. 1E ).

Figures

Fig. 2. Holotype and only specimen of Ferussina petofiana Páll-Gergely, sp. n.: A–D, F = various views of the shell; E = aperture; G: protoconch and first teleoconch whorls; H = Arrows

Fig. 3. Artistic reconstruction of Ferussina petofiana Páll-Gergely, sp. n. (artwork by Márton Zsoldos)

Fig. 1. Geological setting of the type locality of Ferussina petofiana. A = Position of the Hațeg Basin (rectangle; HB) within Romania.B = Simplified geological map of the Hațeg Basin, highlighting the distribution of the uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits (shades of green). Legend: 1 – surrounding metamorphic basement, 2 – units of the sedimentary basin infill (mostly marine), 3-5 – fossiliferous Maastrichtian continental deposits, with 3 – Sînpetru Formation, 4 – Densuș-Ciula Formation (v – volcaniclastic beds), and 5 – Sînpetru Formation-correlative units (see CSIKI-SAVA et al. 2016), 6 – Quaternary cover, 7 – sites with gastropod assemblages (a –SCHAFARZIK 1909,b –RĂDULESCU et al. 1976, c –ANTONESCU et al. 1983, d –GRIGORESCU et al. 1985, e – PANĂ et al. 2002, f – CSIKI et al. 2008, g – VASILE et al. 2011; see text for details), 8 – site K3 of Vălioara, the type locality of Ferussina petofiana (from BOTFALVAI et al. 2021). C = Synthetic lithological column near site K3 (marked by red arrow), modified from BOTFALVAI et al. (2021). Lithofacies abbreviations: BChD – braided channel deposits, mainly conglomerates, ChL – sandstone channel lag, SSp – sandstone sheet-splay, PdFP – poorly drained floodplain deposits, mainly grey-greenish silts and muds, WdFP – well-drained floodplain deposits, mainly red silts and muds. For more details, see BOTFALVAI et al. (2021). D. View of site K3 in the Pârâul Neagului ravine, located in grey-greenish fine-grained floodplain deposits (near handle of hammer). E. The Retezat Mountains overlooking the Hațeg Basin from the south (photo by Gergő Konecsni), mentioned by the Petőfi poem written during his 1849 visit in the