A RE-EVALUATION OF THE GONDWANAN INVERTEBRATE WAIPARACONUS AS A COELENTERATE

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 1 decade ago

Abstract - The remains of Waiparaconus, an enigmatic calcareous invertebrate, have been known from Palaeocene deposits in the Middle Waipara Gorge of Canterbury, New Zealand, since the early 1870s. More recently, similar material has been collected from the late Cretaceous of Antarctica and Western Australia, and the Eocene of South America, demonstrating a Gondwanan distribution. These marine fossils have previously been interpreted as either rudistid molluscs or lepadomorph cirripedes, and even though it is clear that the remains are neither of these, many writers continue to include them within the Cirripedia. This paper re-examines the disposition of Waiparaconus from the Waipara Greensands, analyses gross morphology, and concludes these remains are most reasonably interpreted as an internal skeleton. It is proposed that Waiparaconus lies within the Waiparaconidae, a new family of the Anthozoa. At ordinal level, Waiparaconus shows similarity to the pennatulacean octocorals, but inclusion within this order is not warranted, both because of the uniquely waiparaconid imbrications (which are interpreted as attachment sites for rachides or polyps), and an unclear understanding of its mode of life. The austral endemism, and age of Waiparaconus suggest a Gondwanan origin for the family.