Monodaeus bortolottii Delle Cave, 1988: 123-126

Pasini, Giovanni, Garassino, Alessandro & Sami, Marco, 2018, Decapod crustaceans from the late Pliocene (Piacenzian) nearby Faenza (Emilia-Romagna, N Italy), Natural History Sciences 5 (2), pp. 27-32 : 30

Monodaeus bortolottii Delle Cave, 1988: 123-126 , Pl. 1, figs. 1, 2, Pl. 2, figs. 1-5.

Monodaeus bortolottii – De Angeli & Garassino 2006: 74. — De Angeli et al. 2009: 185, 195, fig. 16. — Schweitzer et al. 2010: 126. — Garassino et al. 2012: 52. — Baldanza et al. 2013: 347, 348, fig. 13. — Pasini & Garassino 2013a: 325, 326, fig. 5. — Pasini & Garassino 2013b: 344, 345, fig. 2. — Pasini et al. 2014: 254, 255, fig. 9B. — Baldanza et al. 2017: 60, 61, fig. 15C.

Material and measurements: One specimen from Cà Raggio ( MSF 2251 – lcxp: 11 mm; wcxp: 13 mm) ; twelve specimens from Podere Tombarona ( MSF 2209 – lcxp: 7 mm; wcxp: 10 mm; MSF 2213 – lcxp: 15 mm; wcxp: 21 mm; MSF 2214 – lcxp: 14 mm; wcxp: 14 mm; MSF 2217 – lcxp: 15 mm; wcxp: 23 mm; MSF 2221 – lcxp: 18 mm; wcxp: 22 mm; MSF 2222 – lcxp: 11 mm; wcxp: 14 mm; MSF 2225 – lcxp: 13 mm; wcxp: 16 mm; MSF 2229 – lcxp: 6 mm; wcxp: 8 mm; MSF 2229 bis – lcxp: 6 mm; wcxp: 8 mm; MSF 2234 – lcxp: 16 mm; wcxp: 22 mm; MSF 2235 bis – lcxp: 13 mm; wcxp: 17 mm; MSF 2235 – lcxp: 14 mm; wcxp: 18 mm) .

Discussion. The studied specimens are assigned to Monodaeus bortolottii in having suboctagonal carapace slightly convex, wider than long; straight front margin, with a weak median incision; short convex anterolateral margin; long convergent posterolateral margin; posterior margin straight medially and convex on margins with a granular ridge; dorsal region well marked by grooves, with wide raised epigastric lobes; suboval protogastric regions well marked; subpentagonal mesogastric regions with narrow elongate anterior process between protogastric regions; cardiac region well marked by branchiocardiac grooves; small hepatic regions poorly marked; and wide well-marked branchial regions.

Monodaeus bortolottii was previously reported from the Pliocene of Volterra ( Delle Cave, 1988) and Grosseto ( De Angeli et al., 2009). Later Pasini & Garassino (2013a, b) and Garassino, Hyžný & Pasini in Baldanza et al. (2013) reported this species from the Pliocene (Piacenzian) of Castellarano and Monticelli di Quattro Castella (Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna), from the early Pliocene of Cassine (Alessandria, Piedmont), and from the early Pleistocene of the Poggio i Sodi (Siena, Tuscany). Later Pasini et al. (2014) reported M. bortolottii from the early Pleistocene of Volterra (Pisa, Tuscany), close to the type locality originally reported by Delle Cave (1988). Recently De Angeli, Garassino & Pasini in Baldanza et al. (2017) reported this species also from the early Pleistocene of Poggi Gialli (Sinalunga, Tuscany).