Salenia hondoensis Cooke, 1953
Plate: SaHo-10
Series: Upper Cretaceous Group: Taylor Formation: Anacacho
Locale: Elston Biry Road County: Medina Stage: Maastrichtian
Length: 19.0 mm Height: 11.7 mm
Specimen in photos: U.S.N.M. 108366 Holotype
Repository: Paleobiology Dept., NMNH, Smithsonian Institution
HOLOTYPE INFO:
Holotype: USNM 108366 (Cooke, 1953).
Locality: USGS 15555, bed of Hondo Creek, 1.25 miles south of Elston Biry School, Medina County, Texas.
Stratigraphy: Anacacho Limestone.
SYNONYMY
SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY – TAXONOMY
Class: Echinoidea Leske, 1778
Subclass: Euechinoidea Bronn, 1860
Infraclass: Carinacea Kroh & Smith, 2010
Superorder: Calycina Gregory, 1900
Order: Salenioida Delage & Hérouard, 1903
Family: Saleniidae L. Agassiz, 1838
Genus: SALENIA Gray, 1835
Species: Salenia hondoensis Cooke, 1953
TYPE SPECIES: Cidaris scutigera Gray, 1835
DIAGNOSIS
Test moderately inflated. Distinguished by a raised, smooth, and plainly pentagonal apical system with fused sutures and circular perforations at the angles. Ocular plates are sagittate; genital plates are dumbbell-shaped. Ambulacral tubercles are imperforate (Cooke, 1953).
STRATIGRAPHICAL OCCURRENCE & DISTRIBUTION
Group: Taylor / Navarro (Anacacho varies by member).
Formations: Anacacho Limestone.
Stratigraphic Units: Upper Cretaceous, Campanian/Maastrichtian.
Counties: Medina.
Abundance: Rare; known only from the holotype.
DESCRIPTION
TOP: Length, width, height: 19.0 mm L × 11.7 mm H. Top shape: Circular. Top domed: Moderately inflated.
AMB: Amb shape: Narrow, widening toward the peristome. Amb arrangement: Contains two rows of small imperforate tubercles separated by granules.
PORE PAIRS: Arrangement: Straight and uniserial.
TUBERCLES: Primary Perforated: No (Imperforate). Primary Crenulate: Yes. Interambulacral Tubercles: Two rows of about 5 large primary tubercles. Scrobicular Tubercles: Small tubercles ring the primaries.
GRANULES: Distribution: Intermediate areas are granulated.
FASCIOLE: Absent.
INTERAMB: Width: Much wider than ambulacra.
APICAL SYSTEM: Shape: Raised, smooth, plainly pentagonal, and nearly straight-sided; sides indented at the suture lines. Plating: Ocular plates are sagittate (arrow-shaped). Genital plates are dumbbell-shaped (constricted laterally by the oculars) with pores near the center. Madreporite is rather large and confined to the right anterior plate. Suranal (central) plate is straight-sided except where truncated by the periproct. Ornamentation: Sutures are fused, marked with circular perforations (pits) at the corners and midway between them.
PERIPROCT (ANUS): Location: Eccentric within the apical system; adjoining the central plate and the posterior and right-posterior genital plates.
PERISTOME (MOUTH): Shape: Circular. Size: Large. Lip: Strongly notched.
SPINES: Unknown.
SPECIMENS STUDIED & CONDITION: Holotype USNM 108366.
ETYMOLOGY
Named for Hondo Creek, Medina County, Texas, the type locality.
REMARKS & COMPARISONS
Remarks: The species is noted for the simplicity of its ornamentation and the distinct shape of the apical plates (dumbbell genitals, sagittate oculars).
Comparisons:
Plate: SaHo-10
Series: Upper Cretaceous Group: Taylor Formation: Anacacho
Locale: Elston Biry Road County: Medina Stage: Maastrichtian
Length: 19.0 mm Height: 11.7 mm
Specimen in photos: U.S.N.M. 108366 Holotype
Repository: Paleobiology Dept., NMNH, Smithsonian Institution
HOLOTYPE INFO:
Holotype: USNM 108366 (Cooke, 1953).
Locality: USGS 15555, bed of Hondo Creek, 1.25 miles south of Elston Biry School, Medina County, Texas.
Stratigraphy: Anacacho Limestone.
SYNONYMY
- Salenia hondoensis Cooke, 1953
SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY – TAXONOMY
Class: Echinoidea Leske, 1778
Subclass: Euechinoidea Bronn, 1860
Infraclass: Carinacea Kroh & Smith, 2010
Superorder: Calycina Gregory, 1900
Order: Salenioida Delage & Hérouard, 1903
Family: Saleniidae L. Agassiz, 1838
Genus: SALENIA Gray, 1835
Species: Salenia hondoensis Cooke, 1953
TYPE SPECIES: Cidaris scutigera Gray, 1835
DIAGNOSIS
Test moderately inflated. Distinguished by a raised, smooth, and plainly pentagonal apical system with fused sutures and circular perforations at the angles. Ocular plates are sagittate; genital plates are dumbbell-shaped. Ambulacral tubercles are imperforate (Cooke, 1953).
STRATIGRAPHICAL OCCURRENCE & DISTRIBUTION
Group: Taylor / Navarro (Anacacho varies by member).
Formations: Anacacho Limestone.
Stratigraphic Units: Upper Cretaceous, Campanian/Maastrichtian.
Counties: Medina.
Abundance: Rare; known only from the holotype.
DESCRIPTION
TOP: Length, width, height: 19.0 mm L × 11.7 mm H. Top shape: Circular. Top domed: Moderately inflated.
AMB: Amb shape: Narrow, widening toward the peristome. Amb arrangement: Contains two rows of small imperforate tubercles separated by granules.
PORE PAIRS: Arrangement: Straight and uniserial.
TUBERCLES: Primary Perforated: No (Imperforate). Primary Crenulate: Yes. Interambulacral Tubercles: Two rows of about 5 large primary tubercles. Scrobicular Tubercles: Small tubercles ring the primaries.
GRANULES: Distribution: Intermediate areas are granulated.
FASCIOLE: Absent.
INTERAMB: Width: Much wider than ambulacra.
APICAL SYSTEM: Shape: Raised, smooth, plainly pentagonal, and nearly straight-sided; sides indented at the suture lines. Plating: Ocular plates are sagittate (arrow-shaped). Genital plates are dumbbell-shaped (constricted laterally by the oculars) with pores near the center. Madreporite is rather large and confined to the right anterior plate. Suranal (central) plate is straight-sided except where truncated by the periproct. Ornamentation: Sutures are fused, marked with circular perforations (pits) at the corners and midway between them.
PERIPROCT (ANUS): Location: Eccentric within the apical system; adjoining the central plate and the posterior and right-posterior genital plates.
PERISTOME (MOUTH): Shape: Circular. Size: Large. Lip: Strongly notched.
SPINES: Unknown.
SPECIMENS STUDIED & CONDITION: Holotype USNM 108366.
ETYMOLOGY
Named for Hondo Creek, Medina County, Texas, the type locality.
REMARKS & COMPARISONS
Remarks: The species is noted for the simplicity of its ornamentation and the distinct shape of the apical plates (dumbbell genitals, sagittate oculars).
Comparisons:
- Salenia sergipensis: S. hondoensis resembles S. sergipensis (White, 1887) from the Cretaceous of Brazil. However, S. hondoensis differs by having a larger, more sharply pentagonal apical system with apparently less distinct (fused) sutures (Cooke, 1953).
