Crescentiella, a new name for "Tubiphytes" morronensis Crescenti, 1969: an enigmatic Jurassic – Cretaceous microfossil

Abstract

Several organisms or interaction of organisms have been described for a long time interval from late Paleozoic to Cretaceous as Tubiphytes with type species T. obscurus MASLOV (1956). Paleozoic Tubiphytes were revised by SENOWBARI-DARYAN & FLÜGEL (1993), Triassic representatives still needed to be revised. For Jurassic (extremely abundant in upper Jurassic) and Cretaceous organisms, known as ";;Tubiphytes";; morronensis CRESCENTI (1969), the new genus name Crescentina was proposed by SENOWBARI-DARYAN et al. (2007). Because this generic name was invalidely published, we propose here the genus name Crescentiella. Differences of Crescentiella nov. gen. and Tubiphytes MASLOV are discussed. The systematic position of Crescentiella as foraminifer, interaction of foraminifer and cyanophyceans or as special kind of oncolites is discussed. It is interpreted as symbiosis or encrustation between cyanobacteria and nubecularid foraminifer, uncertain tube or rarely other biogenic components. Comments on similar associations, e.g. genus Labes ELIASOVA, are provided.