A New Species of Septuconularia (Hexangulaconulariidae, Cnidaria) from Cambrian Stage 2, South China

Hexangulaconulariids, an extinct family of medusozoan small shelly fossils (SSFs), were a conspicuous component of early Cambrian, shallow marine platform communities in South China. Described herein is Septuconularia crassiformis sp. nov. from Bed 5 of the Yanjiahe Formation (Cambrian Stage 2) in the Three Gorges area of Hubei Province. The new species differs from the type and only other known species, S. yanjiaheensis, in the shape of the abapical portion and in the degree of curvature of the adapertural margin. The anatomy of the apical portion of the new species is unknown. The diagnosis of the genus Septuconularia is emended and the spatio-temporal distribution of hexangulaconulariids in South China is summarized. Finally, S. yanjiaheensis, with its slit-like aperture and very narrow transverse cross-section, may have been better adapted to the shallow platform environment than the broader S. crassiformis, which appears to have been less common than the type species.