Valettaster digitatus ( Quenstedt, 1858 )

Gale, Andrew Scott, 2021, Taxonomy and phylogeny of the ‘ football stars’ (Asteroidea, Sphaerasteridae), Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 19 (10), pp. 691-741 : 734

Valettaster digitatus ( Quenstedt, 1858)

( Fig. 22A–D, G, J )

$1858 Sphaerites digitatus Quenstedt : 726, pl. 88, figs 48–52.

1985? Valettaster digitatus Quenstedt ; Breton: 93.

Types. Of the abactinal ossicles figured by Quenstedt (1858, pl. 88, figs 48–52), from the ‘ Weisse Jura’ at Derlingen, Thale, Germany, the specimen illustrated as fig. 48 is here selected as lectotype, the present whereabouts of which are unknown .

Diagnosis. Abactinals large, flat, bearing irregularly developed digitate processes on margins; outer surfaces with sculpture of dense, evenly sized, crater-rimmed pits.

Material. A lot including 25 abactinal ossicles from the Oxfordian of southern Germany ( GPIT /A5/50).

Occurrence. Oxfordian of southern Germany.

Description. Abactinals flat, truncated cones, irregular in outline, with thin flanged processes forming margins. The sloping marginal zone bears pits for articulation of smaller secondary ossicles. External faces irregularly oval, bearing evenly sized, densely packed pits, each with a crater rim.

Remarks. This species has received little attention in the literature, but is distinctive in its large, flat abactinals, with marginal processes and a sculpture of dense, fine crater-rimmed pits.

Figures

Figure 22. A–D, G, J, Valettaster digitatus (Quenstedt, 1858), abactinal ossicles, in external view (A, C, D, G, J) and lateral view (B) (GPIT/A5/50). E, Valettaster ocellatus (Forbes, 1848), abactinal ossicle, in external view (NHMUK EE 17696). F, I, Pouzaster pocknotata gen. et sp. nov., abactinal ossicles in external view (MHNML 2020.1.2, 1.3). H, K, Valettaster granulatus (Brunnich Nielsen, 1943), abactinal ossicles, external view (SNSB-BSGP 2020 XLV1, 2). L, Valettaster argus (Spencer, 1907), articulated group of abactinal ossicles (NHMUK EE 17637f). M, N, Valettaster thuyi sp. nov., holotype, abactinal ossicle in external and lateral views, respectively (MHNML 2020.1.1). Provenance: A–D, G, J are from the Oxfordian of Oerlingen, south Germany. B is from the Santonian of East Kent, UK. F, I are from the serpentinus ammonite Zone, Toarcian at Fougerolles, France. H, K are from the lower Maastrichtian of R¨ugen, Germany. M, N are from the bifrons ammonite Zone, Toarcian, Fougerolles, France. L is from the coranguinum Zone, Santonian, Broadstairs, Kent, UK. Scale bars: A–E, G, H, J, K = 5 mm; F, I, L = 0.5mm; M, N = 0.2 mm.