Zaphrentites Hudson, 1941

El-Desouky, Heba, Herbig, Hans-Georg & Kora, Mahmoud, 2023, Kasimovian (late Pennsylvanian) cornute rugose corals from Egypt: taxonomy, facies and palaeogeography of a cool-water fauna from northern Gondwana, Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (32) 142 (1), pp. 1-39 : 21

Genus Zaphrentites Hudson, 1941 .

Type-species: Zaphrentis parallela Carruthers, 1910 .

Diagnosis: Small, conical to slightly curved with well-marked longitudinal ribbing. Cardinal fossula is on the concave side. In early growth stages it is closed and expands adaxially, and major septa are pinnately arranged. In late growth stages cardinal septum is shortened and septa are withdrawn from the fossula, first in cardinal quadrants, then in counter quadrants and thus a radial arrangement of the septa supersedes pinnate arrangement. Minor septa are very short or immersed in the wall. Tabulae are incomplete (after Hill, 1981; p. F316).

Remarks: Hill (1981) included Zaphrentites into Hapsiphyllidae , but Fedorowski (2012b) insisted on the validity of the family Stereophrentidae Fomichev, 1953 according to IRZN, although the genus Stereophrentis is not valid, as it is an objective younger synonym of Zaphrentites . Herein, we did not follow this proposal. Zaphrentites shares its simple morphology with many zaphrentoidlike taxa. The position of the cardinal fossula on the concave side of the corallite distinguishes it from the other zaphrentoid corals, where it is located on the convex side. It differs from Ampleoizaphrentis Vaughan, 1906 by its smaller dimensions, missing minor septa and major septa never withdrawn from the axis. Similarities to Rotiphyllum Hudson, 1942 are evident and Fedorowski (2009a) moved several species described under “ Zaphrentis ” and Zaphentites to the first genus. The main distinctive feature of Zaphrentites is the morphology of the axial stereocolumn. Fedorowski (2012b) also moved several species from Zaphrentites to Zaphrufimia Fedorowski, 2012 , based on the septal development.

Geographic and stratigraphic range: Zaphrentites is a common genus through the Mississippian (Tournaisian– Viséan–Serpukhovian) of the Palaeotethys and adjoining epicontinental seas from Northwest Europe to East Asia (Denayer and Hoşgör, 2014, cum lit.; Rodríguez et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2022). It is also known from the Mississippian of the conterminous USA (fide Wang et al., 2022). From the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, it was previously reported from the late Viséan Um Bogma Formation ( Kora and Jux, 1986). Zaphrentites is rare in the Pennsylvanian, reported to our knowledge only from northern Spain (“Westphalian D” = Asturian, late Moscovian, de Groot, 1963; Rodríguez and Kullmann, 1990; Kullmann and Rodríguez, 1994 and Rodríguez et al., 2022), but both species known ( Z. clithria de Groot, 1963 , Z. paralleloides de Groot, 1963 ) were moved to Rotiphyllum paralloides (de Groot, 1963) by Fedorowski (2004). Rodríguez et al., (2022, tab. 1) listed Zaphrentites also from the late Moscovian (Asturian) of North America (Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada —not supported by our literature review) and from the Uralian–Arctic realm). Herein, we describe Zaphrentites from the Kasimovian West of the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The genus was also described from the Lower and Middle Permian of China (fide Wang et al., 2017).