Soanellidae Kanygin, 1967

Salas, María José & Vaccari, N. Emilio, 2012, New insights into the early diversification of the Ostracoda: Tremadocian ostracods from the Cordillera Oriental, Argentina, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57 (1), pp. 175-190 : 179-180

Family Soanellidae Kanygin, 1967 Genus Saltite Rossi de García and Proserpio, 1976 1976 Bernardite Rossi de García and Proserpio (gen. nov.); Rossi de García and Proserpio 1976: 559–560, pl. 1: 1, 2.

1976 Nortite Rossi de García and Proserpio (gen. nov.); Rossi de García and Proserpio 1976: 561–562, pl. 1: 5.

1993 Eopilla Schallreuter (gen. nov.); Schallreuter 1993: 117–120, pl. 20.

Type species: Drepanellina erichseni Harrington, 1938 . San Bernardo Formation at the Cerro San Bernardo, northwest Argentina, Late Tremadocian .

Species included: Saltite uchuy sp. nov., Saltite kuraq sp. nov., Saltite ingelorae ( Schallreuter, 1993) , and Saltite? waisfeldae Salas, Vannier, and Williams, 2007 . Possibly Ctenobolbina sinensis Hou, 1953a , C. sinensis wangi Hou, 1953a , and C. taitzehoensis Hou, 1953a from the Late Tremadocian of China. The last tentative assignment of Schallreuter (1993) was made from very poor photographic illustrations ( Hou 1953a), so the confirmation of whether Saltite occurs in the Tremadocian of China demands further analysis.

Remarks.— Saltite Rossi de García and Proserpio, 1976 , from northwest Argentina, and Eodominina Schallreuter, 1993 , from Australia, are both monospecific genera, and have been revised with detailed synonymy and description by Schallreuter and Hinz−Schallreuter (2004, 2007) and Salas et al. (2007). Schallreuter and Hinz−Schallreuter (2007) compared Saltite erichseni ( Harrington, 1938) with Eopilla ingelorae Schallreuter, 1993 and proposed that Eopilla might be a subgenus of Saltite . Here, new and abundant material from the Tremadocian of northwest Argentina is examined, and new species are defined, concluding that Eopilla is a junior synonym of Saltite . According to Schallreuter and Hinz−Schallreuter (2007) the only difference between the genera are the broad lobes and slit−like sulci in Saltite and the small and ridge−like lobes and broader sulci in Eopilla . However, the width of the lobes is variable between the new species defined here, supporting the synonymy of the genera. The genus includes three species from Argentina, one species from Australia, and a possible species from China; the main difference between the species is the width of lobes and the sulci. With respect to Eopilla waisfeldae Salas, Vannier, and Williams, 2007 is not comparable with the species included in the genus Saltite . The main differences between Eopilla waisfeldae and the other species are the presence of a tiny and rounded node instead of L2, the indistinct L4, the prominent and very sharp L1 and L3, and the flat lateral surface of the valves. The species would be compared with S. ingelorae by its very narrow lobes and by the poorly defined L4. Due to the mentioned differences, until more material of Saltite? waisfeldae is available the species will be assigned with doubt to the genus Saltite .

http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2009.1110

Stratigraphic and geographic distribution.—Northwest Argentina, Western Australia, and probably Northeast China in the Late Tremadocian.