New Cretaceous brachiopods from the South Island, New Zealand

Abstract

Two new brachiopod taxa of Late Cretaceous age are described from contrasting depositional
settings in North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. Gowanella capralis gen. et sp. nov.
lived in a shallow water oyster reef. The second taxon, which cannot be properly diagnosed, is a
deep water form from an outer shelf to upper slope environment. Both species are terebratulids;
Gowanella is placed in the new family Ostreathyridae but the other form cannot be readily placed
in an appropriate family.

Full text

55
Records of the Canterbury Museum, 2016 Vol. 30: 5–12 © Canterbury Museum 2016
New Cretaceous brachiopods from the South Island, New Zealand
Two new brachiopod taxa of Late Cretaceous age are described from contrasting depositional
settings in North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. Gowanella capralis gen. et sp. nov.
lived in a shallow water oyster reef. e second taxon, which cannot be properly diagnosed, is a
deep water form from an outer shelf to upper slope environment. Both species are terebratulids;
Gowanella is placed in the new family Ostreathyridae but the other form cannot be readily placed
in an appropriate family.
Keywords: Brachiopods, terebratulids, Late Cretaceous, New Zealand
Norton Hiller
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; Canterbury Museum,
Christchurch, New Zealand
Email: norton.hiller@gmail.com
Introduction
Cretaceous brachiopods are rare and poorly
known components of marine faunas in New
Zealand; fewer than 30 species can be recognised
and of these only a handful have been fully
described and formally named (MacFarlan et
al. 2009). Lee and Motchurova-Dekova (2008)
described a new rhynchonellide from the
Kahuitara Tu on Pitt Island, Chatham Islands,
and Hiller (2011) described a new notosariid
rhynchonellide and a bizarre new terebratulidine
of uncertain anities from the Ostrea Bed,
Broken River Formation of North Canterbury.
In addition, he mentioned two indeterminate
terebratulides from the same stratigraphic unit.
In this paper, additional species from Upper
Cretaceous rocks of North Canterbury are
described. Further sampling of the Ostrea Bed
at the top of the Broken River Formation has
produced another species of terebratulidine
brachiopod. ese shallow water forms are
contrasted with similarly aged deep water forms
from the Mead Hill Formation on the Kaikoura
Peninsula.
e specimens are housed in the collections
of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New
Zealand (CM) and the University of Otago
Geology Museum (OU).
South Island Cretaceous stratigraphic
horizons with brachiopods
e earliest mention of Cretaceous brachiopods
in South Island rocks appears to have been that
made by Haast (1879, p.295) who included the
three brachiopod genera Terebratella d’Orbigny,
1847, Waldheimia King, 1850, and Rhynchonella
Fischer, 1809 in his list of fossils from the oyster
beds associated with his ‘brown coal formation’.
However, it is uncertain whether these genera
were actually derived from Cretaceous rather
than Cenozoic strata. Unfortunately, the
whereabouts of the specimens is unknown.
Warren & Speden (1978, p. 50) listed four
brachiopod genera from two Upper Cretaceous
stratigraphic units at Haumuri Blu in South
Marlborough. ese include a discinid
(originally identied as Patella? amuritica
by Wilckens (1922)), Rhynchonella (s.l.) sp.
and Terebratula (s.l.) sp. from the Okarahia
Sandstone, and a linguloid from the slightly
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666 Norton Hiller
younger Conway Formation. ese specimens
require further investigation.
Numerous specimens of a linguloid
brachiopod were obtained during preparation of
a plesiosaur skeleton discovered in a calcareous
concretion from the Conway Formation at the
Waipara River, North Canterbury (Hiller &
Mannering 2005; Hiller et al. 2005). Whether
these belong to the same taxon as the linguloid
from Haumuri Blu requires further research.
e Conway Formation at the Waipara River has
been shown to be somewhat younger than it is at
Haumuri Blu (Roncaglia et al. 1999).
omson (1920) mentioned the presence
of a rhynchonellide in the Ostrea Bed at Weka
Creek, North Canterbury. More recently, the
discovery of Cretaceous brachiopods from the
Ostrea Bed among Cenozoic forms in the Robin
S Allan collection at Canterbury Museum led
Hiller (2011) to investigate that stratigraphic
unit, at the top of the Broken River Formation,
in Weka Creek and surrounding area (Fig. 1B).
is conrmed omson’s observation and
produced the new taxa mentioned above. e
specimens that are the subject of this study were
recovered from a bulk sample taken at a locality
where weathering had made the Ostrea Bed
quite friable so that fossils were easily separated
from the medium-grained sandy matrix.
In 2005, a number of participants in a mid-
conference eld trip, held during the 50th annual
conference of the Geological Society of New
Zealand, made the rst discovery of invertebrate
macrofossils in the Mead Hill Formation, a
glauconitic, ne-grained siliceous limestone
exposed along the foreshore at Kaikoura, North
Canterbury (Fig. 1C). Among the specimens
collected at that time and subsequently were
sponges, echinoid spines, a possible belemnite
and, signicantly, articulated brachiopods.
Figure 1. Locality maps. A, Positions of the collection sites within the South Island of New Zealand. B,
Collection site on the farm Gowan Hill in the Weka Pass area. C, Kaikoura collection site on the rocky shore
near Avoca Point. Collecting sites are indicated by stars.
A B
C
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777
New Cretaceous brachiopods from the South Island, New Zealand
Systematic Palaeontology
Order Terebratulida Waagen, 1883
Suborder Terebratulidina Waagen, 1883
Superfamily uncertain
Family Ostreathyridae fam. nov.
Diagnosis: ick-shelled, short-looped
brachiopods with ventribiconvex shells of
variable outline; anterior commissure plicate;
hinge line almost straight; greatest width at or
close to hinge line; beak markedly attrite; large
foramen permesothyrid.
Age: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian).
Included genera: Ostreathyris Hiller, 2011;
Gowanella gen. nov.
Remarks: e included genera developed
their shells without the involvement of any
median support structure for the loop. For this
reason they are placed within the Suborder
Terebratulidina. If this systematic placement
is correct, then they dier from most
other members of the suborder. Generally,
terebratulidines are smooth, elongately ovoid
with maximum width well anterior of the
hinge line, quite unlike the members of the
new family. Although the new family cannot be
readily placed within any known superfamily,
its erection is warranted by the highly
distinctive, somewhat aberrant nature of the
genera included in it, even though knowledge
of the entire loop is lacking at this stage.
Genus Gowanella gen. nov.
Etymology: Named aer the farm Gowan Hill
on which the specimens were found.
Type species: Gowanella capralis sp. nov.
Horizon: Ostrea Bed Member at the top of the
Broken Hill Formation, North Canterbury,
South Island, New Zealand.
Age: e Broken River Formation has been
dated, on the basis of dinoagellate cysts,
as late Haumurian (late Campanian–early
Maastrichtian) by Roncaglia et al. (1999), making
the Ostrea Bed probably early Maastrichtian.
Diagnosis: Small to medium sized,
ventribiconvex shells with subcircular
to roundly hexagonal outline; anterior
commissure plicate; shell surface smooth apart
from strong growth lines; hinge line almost
straight; beak markedly attrite with large
permesothyrid foramen. Shell punctate. Dorsal
median septum lacking.
Gowanella capralis gen. et sp. nov.
(Figs 2a–r)
Etymology: From the Latin caprale, a marsh or
swamp t only for goats, referring to the small
marshy gully that is the type locality for the
species.
Material: Six complete shells, two dorsal valves
and two broken ventral valves from Site 4,
Gowan Hill West, of Hiller (2011) (Fig 1B);
New Zealand Fossil Record File Number M34/
f0928. Holotype: CM 2014.1.1; Paratypes:
CM 2014.1.2 and CM 2014.1.3 in Canterbury
Museum, Christchurch.
Diagnosis: As for genus.
Description: Ventribiconvex shells with
subcircular to roundly hexagonal outline;
maximum width about mid-valve. Dorsal
valve very gently to gently convex in lateral
prole; anterior prole varying from almost
at to gently convex; rounded median fold
subdued in early growth stages but becoming
higher as shell gets larger and separating at
to concave lateral areas. Ventral valve gently
to strongly convex in lateral prole; anterior
prole strongly convex apart from narrow at
to concave median portion that coincides with
sulcus, which becomes deeper in later growth
stages. Beak short, markedly attrite with large
permesothyrid foramen. Relatively short, wide
deltidial plates disjunct in early growth stages
but becoming conjunct or fused in mature
shells. Shell surface smooth apart from strongly
developed stepped growth lines, becoming
crowded near anterior margin. Shell substance
thick; punctate.
Ventral valve interior with broad, short,
robust teeth; dental plates absent. Rounded
median ridge corresponds to sulcus. Dorsal
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888 Norton Hiller
Figure 2. Gowanella capralis gen. et sp. nov. A−D, Holotype CM 2014.1.1, complete shell in dorsal A, ventral B,
anterior C, and lateral D, views. E, CM 2014.1.6, juvenile complete shell in dorsal view. F−I, CM 2010.41.50,
complete shell in dorsal F, ventral G, lateral H, and anterior I, views. J−M, Paratype CM 2014.1.2, complete
shell in dorsal J, anterior K, lateral L, and ventral M, views. N, Paratype CM 2014.1.5, dorsal valve in interior
view. O, Paratype CM 2014.1.4, dorsal valve in interior view. P−R, Paratype CM 2014.1.3, complete shell in
dorsal P, lateral Q, and anterior R, views.
A
C
J
L
P Q
K
M
H
N
R
I
O
G
D
B E
F
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999
New Cretaceous brachiopods from the South Island, New Zealand
interior with broad ovate cardinal process that
extends across posterior ends of socket ridges.
Broad shallow sockets separated from narrow
triangular hinge plates by sharp socket ridges.
Crural bases poorly dened; nature of crura
and loop unknown.
Discussion: e lack of a dorsal median septum
indicates that the loop of Gowanella capralis gen.
et sp. nov. developed without the involvement of
a septal pillar or any other median support for a
loop during ontogeny. is precludes placing the
genus within the long-looped brachiopods and
so it is classied as a short-looped terebratulidine.
In the overall form of the shell, the new genus
resembles Ostreathyris Hiller, 2011 with which
it occurs. e latter diers from Gowanella in
being very coarsely ribbed but it also possesses
an attrite beak and a large foramen. Internally,
the dorsal valve of Ostreathyris is characterized
by the presence of broad, triangular hinge plates;
these are not seen in Gowanella.
Suborder Terebratellidina Muir-Wood, 1955
Superfamily uncertain
Family uncertain
Genus and species indeterminate
Horizon: Mead Hill Formation, Kaikoura, South
Island, New Zealand.
Age: Haumurian; Late Cretaceous
(Maastrichtian), Browne et al. (2005).
Material: Ten pairs of conjoined valves, all
deformed by crushing and tectonic distortion,
from exposures along the rocky foreshore
near the wharf at Kaikoura (Fig. 1C); New
Zealand Fossil Record File Number O31/
f0617. Holotype: CM 2014.1.38; Paratypes: CM
2014.1.39 in Canterbury Museum, Christchurch
and OU 45287 in the Department of Geology,
Otago University, Dunedin.
Description: Shells with subcircular outlines (Fig.
3); maximum width about midvalve. Anterior
commissure rectimarginate to very gently
sulcate. Beak narrow, erect to slightly incurved;
foramen very small, circular, mesothyrid; beak
ridges well developed. Delthyrium closed
by fairly high concave symphytium that has
developed from conjunct deltidial plates. Ventral
valve gently convex in lateral prole; anterior
prole more strongly convex medianly. Dorsal
valve gently and evenly convex in both proles.
Shell substance thin anteriorly but thickened in
posterior regions.
Figure 3. A reconstruction of the indeterminate
Mead Hill Formation taxon in dorsal view,
based mostly on specimen CM2014.1.39.
Table 1. Dimensions (in mm)
specimen number length width thickness
CM 2014.1.1 holotype complete shell 16.7 17.5 8.3
CM 2014.1.2 paratype complete shell 10.1 11.0 4.5
CM 2014.1.3 paratype complete shell 10.2 11.0 4.6
CM 2014.1.4 paratype dorsal valve 11.6 11.7
CM 2014.1.5 paratype dorsal valve 8.8 9.3
CM 2014.1.6 juvenile complete shell 4.7 5.8 2.6
CM 2014.1.7 juvenile complete shell 3 3
CM2010.41.50 complete shell 11.6 12.9 4.9
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101010 Norton Hiller
Figure 4. Genus and species indeterminate. A−C, CM 2014.1.38, complete shell in dorsal A, lateral B, and
ventral C, views. e exaggerated curvature of the ventral valve is due to tectonic distortion. D−F, CM
2014.1.39, complete shell in dorsal D, ventral E, and lateral F, views. e thin shell at the growth margins
of both these specimens has been broken o. G, OU 45287, complete shell in anterior view showing broken
anterior end with portion of the loop visible (arrowed).
A
D
F G
E
B
C
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111111
New Cretaceous brachiopods from the South Island, New Zealand
Details of the interior of the shell are unknown
except that one specimen, OU 45287 (Fig. 4g),
shows a portion of a long loop, although this
appears to have been displaced slightly from its
life position.
Discussion: e placement of this genus in the
Terebratellidina is based on specimen OU
45287, which shows part of the loop preserved,
but placement in a superfamily is not possible
without more information about the cardinalia
and brachidium. Externally, the species closely
resembles Aliquantula tapirina (Hutton, 1873),
a New Zealand terebratelloid of Oligocene age,
but it would be wrong to assume it belongs in the
same superfamily.
e hard, very ne sedimentary lling of
the shells precludes excavation of the internal
structures and tectonic distortion rendered the
specimens unsuitable for serial sectioning.
Discussion
Hiller (2011) interpreted the Ostrea Bed at the
top of the Broken River Formation to represent
an oyster reef formed in very shallow water,
probably only a few metres deep. In contrast, the
Mead Hill Formation was deposited by pelagic
sedimentation in an outer shelf to upper slope
environment (Hollis et al. 2003a; Hollis et al.
2003b; Browne et al. 2005). e silica content
of the Mead Hill Formation, derived from in
situ diatoms and radiolarians, is consistent with
deposition in a setting analogous to modern
biogenic oozes (Hollis 2003; Hollis et al. 2003a;
Hollis et al. 2003b). e external morphology
of both new taxa reects the environments
in which they lived. e robust shell, attrite
beak and large foramen of Gowanella attests
to a species adapted for living in a high energy
environment in which it used a short, thick
pedicle to attach closely and rmly to a hard
substrate, in this case the large oyster shells
among which it lived. e somewhat variable
outline of the specimens probably reects the
crowded and cramped conditions in which
they grew.
In contrast, the indeterminate form
from Kaikoura lived in a very low energy
environment lacking current and wave activity.
In such a setting, it is likely that each larval
brachiopod would have attached, using a very
slender pedicle, to a single sedimentary particle
that it quickly outgrew to eectively live free on
the sea oor. ickening of the posterior part
of the shell served to stabilize the shells in their
life positions.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to my colleagues Al Mannering and the
late Natalie Cadenhead for their help in collecting
specimen material from the Ostrea Bed and the
Mead Hill Formation. Richard Murchison, owner
of the farm Gowan Hill, is thanked for allowing
access to his property. I also thank Daphne Lee
(Otago University) for the loan of specimens from
Kaikoura, and Kyle Davis (Canterbury Museum) for
taking the photographs. e helpful comments of
Dr Aleksandra Bitner (Polish Academy of Science)
and an anonymous reviewer were much appreciated.
e project was supported nancially by the Robin
S Allan Memorial Fund at Canterbury Museum and
this is gratefully acknowledged.
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