Carboniferous conulariids (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) from Ukraine

Abstract

An assemblage of Carboniferous conulariids (Cnidaria) from Ukraine, consisting of Paraconularia inaequicostata (de Koninck, 1883) s.l., P. irregularis (de Koninck, 1843), P. kohli Brew & Beus, 1976, P. quadrisulcata (Sowerby, 1821), P. lata n. sp., P. cf. crustula (White, 1880), ?P. cf. subulata (Hall, 1858), ?Holoconularia rossica Van Iten et al., 2023, and ?H. poletaevi n. sp., is described. Conulariids have been collected from 15 localities, the detailed palaeontological and stratigraphic characteristics of which are summarized here. Nearly all the conulariids were found in the Donets Basin in the Serpukhovian–early Bashkirian and middle–late Moscovian intervals, which are separated from each other by an interval apparently lacking conulariids. Two new species, Paraconularia lata n. sp. and ?Holoconularia poletaevi n. sp., occur in Moscovian strata. The results of the present study confirm the ability of certain conulariids to withstand major environmental perturbations, as there are no significant changes in species composition across the mid-Carboniferous (Mississippian/Pennsylvanian) boundary. Three species, very similar to species in North America, commonly occur in Carboniferous deposits of Ukraine, namely ?Paraconularia subulata (middle Visean), P. kohli, and P. cf. crustula (Moscovian). The discovery of these three species in the Donets Basin of Ukraine underscores the cosmopolitan distribution of at least some conulariids during Carboniferous times.