First record of chambered hexactinellid sponges from the Palaeozoic
Martin Nose, Radek Vodrážka, Luis-Pedro Fernández, and Isabel Méndez-Bedia
A new chambered hexactinellid sponge, Casearia devonica sp. nov., is described from the Lower Devonian of northern Spain (Cantabrian Mountains). The fossil represents the first evidence of chambered hexactinellid sponges from the Palaeozoic and the oldest representative of the order Hexactinosida. Casearia devonica sp. nov. occurred within small metre-sized mud mounds that developed in deeper water below the storm wave base.
Key words: Hexactinellida, Hexactinosida, chambered sponges, mud mounds, Devonian, Northern Spain.
Martin Nose [m.nose@lrz.uni-muenchen.de], SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Palaeontology and Geology Munich, GeoBio-CenterLMU, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany; Radek Vodrážka [Radek.Vodrazka@seznam.cz], Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Geology, Rozvojová 269, 16502 Praha 6, Czech Republic; Luis-Pedro Fernández [lpedro@geol.uniovi.es] and Isabel Méndez-Bedia [imbedia@geol.uniovi.es], Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Oviedo, c/Arias de Velasco s/n, 33005-Oviedo, Spain.
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