Cryptopora curiosa Cooper, 1973

Bitner, Maria Aleksandra & Logan, Alan, 2016, Recent Brachiopoda from the Mozambique-Madagascar area, western Indian Ocean, Zoosystema 38 (1), pp. 5-41 : 12

Cryptopora curiosa Cooper, 1973

( Fig. 5; Table 4)

Cryptopora curiosa Cooper, 1973a: 6 , pl. 1, figs 4-6; pl. 2, figs 1-25. — Zezina 1985: 113; 2010: 1179. — Logan et al. 2008: 301, fig. 2d-g.

Cryptopora ? cf. boettgeri – Muir-Wood 1959: 294, pl. 5, fig. 11.

MEASUREMENTS. — See Table 4.

REMARKS

Cryptopora curiosa is readily distinguished from other species of Cryptopora by its elaborate wing-like (auriculate) growths on the deltidial plates ( Fig. 5A, B). In the Indian Ocean this species has been identified by Cooper (1973a) from the Andaman Islands and the coasts of South Africa, Mozambique and Somalia, all at depths of less than 100 m. It is also relatively common in sediments in the Red Sea, ranging in depth from 56-1537 m although most of these specimens have been clearly transported seawards from their living sites ( Logan et al. 2008). Although slightly less elongate, the specimens from Madagascar are similar in size and shape to those described and illustrated by Cooper (1973a) and are likewise found in shallow waters up to about 100 m depth, being, however, less common than its congener C. boettgeri . Curry (1983) has postulated that the auriculate flanges of the deltidial plates in C. curiosa might aid the long pedicle in providing posterior weighting to prevent the posterior margin of the shell from gradually sinking into the sediment.

Order TEREBRATULIDA Waagen, 1883 Suborder TEREBRATULIDINA Waagen, 1883 Superfamily TEREBRATULOIDEA Gray, 1840 Family TEREBRATULIDAE Gray, 1840 Subfamily GRYPHINAE Sahni, 1929