Upper Barremian-lower Aptian scleractinian corals of central Europe (Schrattenkalk Fm., Helvetic Zone, Austria, Germany, Switzerland).

From the Schrattenkalk Formation (upper Barremian-lower Aptian) of southern Germany, western Austria, and Switzerland, new coral material is taxonomically described, belonging to 56 species from 35 genera of 21 families: Actinastrea pseudominima (Koby); A. subornata (d'Orbigny); Paretallonia bendukidzeae Sikharulidze; Eugyra (Felixigyra) crassa (de Fromentel) (new combination); E. (F.) patruliusi (Morycowa); E. (F.) picteti (Koby) (new combination); E. rariseptata Morycowa; Myriophyllia propria Sikharulidze; Thecosmilia dichotoma Koby; Clausastrea plana (de Fromentel); Complexastrea cf. lobata Geyer; Paraclausastrea chevalieri Zlatarski; P. kaufmanni (Koby); P. vorarlbergensis Baron-Szabo; ?Montlivaltia sp.; Diplogyra subplanotabulata Sikharulidze; Hydnophora styriaca (Michelin); Dermosmilia fiagdonensis Starostina Krasnov; D. cf. laxata (Étallon); D. trichotoma Eguchi; D. tuapensis Baron-Szabo Gonzalez.-León; Placophyllia grata Bugrova; Cairnsipsammia merbeleri Baron-Szabo; Morphastrea ludovici (Michelin) (emended herein); Ahrdorffia ornata (Morycowa); Astraeofungia tirnovoriana (Toula) (new combination); Actinaraea (Camptodocis) brancai (Dietrich); A. tenuis Morycowa; Rhipidomeandra bugrovae Morycowa Masse; Comoseris aptiensis Baron-Szabo; Comoseris jireceki Toula; Polyphylloseris mammillata Eguchi; Ellipsocoenia barottei (de Fromentel) (new combination); Ellipsocoenia haimei (de Fromentel) (new combination); Dimorphastrea tenustriata de Fromentel; Latomeandra cf. plicata (Goldfuss); Microphyllia gemina Eliásová; Thalamocaeniopsis stricta (Milne Edwards Haime)(new combination); Trigerastraea haldonensis (Duncan) (new combination); Heliocoenia rozkowskae Morycowa; H. vadosa (Pocta); Stylosmilia corallina Koby; Cyathophora decipiens ramosa (Hackemesser) (new combination); C. mirtschinkae Kuzmicheva; Cladophyllia clemencia de Fromentel; C. conybearei Milne Edwards Haime; C. crenata (Blanckenhorn); C. furcifera Roemer; C. rollieri (Koby); C. stutzi (Koby) (new combination); Amphiaulastrea conferta (Ogilvie); A. rarauensis (Morycowa); Heterocoenia inflexa (Eichwald); H. minima d'Orbigny; Acanthogyra aptiana Turnsek; as well as the new species Columnocoenia falkenbergensis. In addition, all the information about previously described taxa from the Schrattenkalk was evaluated with regard to their taxonomic assignment, stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution, and paleoenvironmental relationships to faunas from other geographic areas and time periods. A total of 122 species belonging to 53 genera and 24 families are recognized from Schrattenkalk localities (western Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland). These include the taxa of both the Lower and Upper Schrattenkalk, and the intercalated Rawil Member. The Schrattenkalk coral fauna nearly exclusively consists of colonial forms of three general categories of polyp integration: cerioid-plocoid (33.6%); branching (18%); and (hydno-) meandroid-thamnasterioid (46.7%). Only two specimens were doubtfully assigned to solitary taxa. Corallite diameters range from less than 1 mm to over 20 mm and fall into three major corallite-size groups: small (up to 2.4 mm), medium (2.4-9.5 mm), and large (9.5 mm). The fauna is distinctly dominated by forms with medium-size corallites (68%), followed by forms having small-size corallites (26%). Together with the potential solitary taxa, corals with large-size corallites are of minimal importance to the total fauna. On the genus-level, the Schrattenkalk corals show closest affinities to coral assemblages of central (especially France; 55%), eastern and southern Europe (44‒49%), as well as Central America (47%). On the species-level, closest affinities are to coral assemblages of central, southeastern, and eastern Europe (16‒25.5%), as well as Central America (14%), but nearly a third of the Schrattenkalk species (30%) was restricted to the upper Barremian-lower Aptian of the Schrattenkalk Formation; this suggests that the Schrattenkalk platform sensu lato was a diversity center and a crucial reservoir for coral recruitment. The majority (86%) of the Schrattenkalk corals thrived in a shallow-water, reefal to perireefal, subtropical marine environment. In general, the Schrattenkalk coral assemblages are characteristic of moderate- to high-energy environments of the inner shelf to shore zone, having morphotype associations that typically prevail down to 10-15 m depth. In contrast, for the Upper Schrattenkalk coral fauna of central Switzerland (Hergiswil), a non-reefal paleoenvironment at a depth of several tens of meters is suggested by the morphotypes of the taxa and types of microfacies present. The corals of the Schrattenkalk Formation occurred in both photozoan (Lower and Upper Schrattenkalk members) and heterozoan (Rawil member) carbonate-producing communities. With regard to taxonomic diversity, the Schrattenkalk coral fauna is comparable to the most species-rich Upper Jurassic reef assemblages and represents the last major coral-reef development of the Mesozoic.

Scleractinian corals from the upper Berriasian of central Europe and comparison with contemporaneous coral assemblages.

Scleractinian coral faunas from the upper Berriasian part of the Oehrli Formation of western Austria (Vorarlberg) and eastern Switzerland (Canton of Appenzell) are taxonomically described for the first time. Furthermore, scleractinian corals of the upper Berriasian part of the Oehrli Formation of the Swiss Cantons of Nidwalden and Uri are revised based on the study of type material. Lectotypes are designated for the species Dimorphocoeniopsis alpina (Koby, 1896) and Pleurophyllia tobleri (Koby, 1896). Sixty-one species belonging to 43 genera and 18 families were identified, making the coral fauna of the upper Oehrli Formation by far the most diverse among the Berriasian assemblages: Actinastrea pseudominima (Koby), A. sp., Adelocoenia bulgarica (Toula)(new combination), A. hexaphyllia (d'Orbigny)(new combination), A. radisensis (d'Orbigny)(new combination), Allocoeniopsis luciensis (d'Orbigny), Amphiaulastrea sp., Astraeofungia cf. decipiens (Michelin), Cladophyllia conybearei Milne Edwards Haime, Columnocoenia ksiazkiewiczi Morycowa, Comoseris jireceki Toula, Complexastrea seriata Turnsek, C. lobata Geyer, Cycloria mariscali (Felix)(new combination), Dermosmilia capitata (Koby), D. simplex Koby, Dimorphastrea excavata d'Orbigny, D. explanata De Fromentel, Dimorphocoeniopsis alpina (Koby), Ellipsocoenia lorioli (Koby), Enallhelia compressa (Münster), E. rathieri d'Orbigny, Epistreptophyllum cf. densum Roniewicz, Fungiastraea moeschi (Koby), Heliocoenia corallina Koby, H. humberti Étallon, H. minima Sikharulidze, Heterocoenia cf. inflexa (Eichwald), Latiphyllia neocomiensis De Fromentel, Latiastrea mucronata Sikharulidze, Latomeandra sp., Meandrastrea rudis (De Fromentel)(new combination), M. cf. lamberti (Bataller), Meandrophyllia corrugata (Michelin), Microsolena major (Ferry), M. cf. subexcavata Eguchi, Mitrodendron cf. modicum Eliásová, Mixastraea polyseptata Morycowa, Montlivaltia arcuata Beauvais, M. kaufmanni Koby, M. truncata (Defrance, 1817), Myriophyllia cf. propria Sikharulidze, Paraclausastrea vorarlbergensis Baron-Szabo, Peplosmilia stutzi (Koby), Placocoenia heimi (Koby)(new combination), Placophyllia dianthus (Goldfuss), Plesiomontlivaltia paucisepta (Koby)(new combination), Pleurophyllia schmidti (Koby)(new combination), P. tobleri (Koby), Polyphylloseris icaunensis (d'Orbigny, 1850), Rhipidogyra cf. minima Koby, Stylangia cf. laddi Wells, Stylina pleionantha Meneghini, S. decipiens Étallon, S. cf. sparsa Trautschold, Stylosmilia alpina Koby, S. yabei Eguchi, Thecosmilia dichotoma (Koby), Th. sp., Trigerastraea gourdani (De Fromentel), and Vallimeandra cf. explanata (De Fromentel). Furthermore, five additional Berriasian coral faunas are reviewed and compared with the coral fauna of the upper Oehrli Formation. These five assemblages are from southern Ukraine (2 assemblages, consisting of five and 12 species, respectively), northern Tunisia (13 species), southern Spain (23 species), and central Tibet (11 species). Except for the faunas from central Tibet and northern Tunisia, the Berriasian coral assemblages are distinctly dominated by colonial species (70-95%); they represent largely isolated populations of mostly endemic species; and consist largely of genera that had already appeared in the Upper Jurassic (80-100%). On the species-level, however, with the exception of the coral assemblage of Spain, the Beriasian coral faunas are dominated by or completely consist of taxa that have their first occurrence in the Berriasian (54-100%). The Berriasian fauna of the upper Oehrli Formation described in this work contains nearly three times more species than found in the contemporaneous fauna of southern Spain which up to now was the largest known Berriasian fauna. Two of the upper Berriasian taxa described in the current work (Cycloria and Placocoenia) may be the first representatives of lineages that still occur today (Mussidae and Montastraeidae, respectively) as suggested by a recent study of the cox1 Intron in modern corals.