CASEARIA QUENSTEDT AND CYPELLIA POMEL (HEXACTINELLIDA, PORIFERA) FROM THE JURASSIC OF THE SHOTORI MOUNTAINS, EAST-CENTRAL IRAN

Abstract

The hexactinellid sponge genera Casearia Quenstedt, Caseispongia Quenstedt, and Cypellia Pomel are all morphologically similar and externally annulated. Caseispongia is internally a chambered sponge, like the hypercalcified genus Amblysiphonella . The internal construction of almost all externally annulated specimens illustrated as Casearia by Quenstedt and some other authors is not known enough. Despite of this lack of knowledge the genus name Caseispongia is synonymized with Casearia based on observations of Müller and the description of Schmidel. Both genera were described originally from the Upper Jurassic of southern Germany. Hexactinellid sponges, described in this paper, are reported for the first time from the Jurassic of the Shotori Mountains in east-central Iran. The following species are new to science: Casearia tabasensis , Cypellia irregularis , C. cylindrica , and C. tabulata .