Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 35/2. (2015)

Paleontology

Fiorina DIACONU

Class GASTEROPODA

Familly Cerithidae

Genus Cerithium Bruguire, 1789

Cerithium europaeum Mayer, 1878 (Pl. IV, Fig. 7)

1909 Cerithium europaeum, Macovei, p. 157, pl. XI, fig. 13 2007 Cerithium europaeum, Vazza, Cecalupo, p. 182, PL 5 fig. i.

Description. Prominent conical shell. The shifts of mind partially are overlapping. The suture is impressed and allowed to see the granular cingulum. The aperture is narrow and smooth. The edge of columella is sightly callosous.

Family Conusidae Genus Conus Linné, 1758

Conus ponderosus Brocchi, 1814 (Pl. IV, Fig. 9, 10)

1955 Conus (Lithoconus)ponderosus, Moisescu, p. 164-165, pl. XIV, fig. 10, 11 1972 Conus ponderosus, Macarovici, Turculep p. 188, pi. LVIII, fig. 11

Description. The conical shells, with 8—9 shifts, the last variant form occupies ЪА of the height of the shell. The surface of shell is smooth, without carving. The aperture is oval, slightly elongated. The height of shell is 18—30 mm.

Remarks. The species is present in Badenian deposits of Europe.

Family Turritellidae

Genus 7'urritella La mark, 1799

Turritella sp. (Pl. IV, Fig. 8)

Description. A fragment of a very poorly preserved specimen that does not allows species’ identification.

Paleoecological considerations

In the assemblage from Neagonea Valley are present also molluscs with primitive characters (e.g. Cerithium). A wide variety of molluscs of the genera Pecten, Chlamys, Ostrea, Cardita, Turritella, Conus, and corals indicate relatively warm seas.

In the sub-littoral realm of subtropical basins up to 70 m depth one can meet Turritella and Cerithium and temperatures above 21 °C. Turritella is a representative oflndo-Pacific marine species that prefer shallower waters (1—27 m).

In the assemblage of bivalves from Neagonea Valley one can noticet epi-faunal representatives. Most of them actually live in the coastal realm and have a maximum development up to 300 m in depth (Pecten, Chlamys). In the juvenile stage, Chlamys is living as fixed organism on bedrock, and in adulthood becomes free.

Among the carnivorous gastropods, Conus is a sifonostomate species, which lives only in seas with normal salinity in coastal-tropical zones (1 to 80 m depth), in rich oxygen water, in association with other molluscs, on the coral reefs (Tfia, 2009).

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