GEOL. CROAT. I 50/1 I - 5 2 Figs. I PI. ZAGREB 1997 Valvasoria carniolica n.gen. n.sp., a Triassic Worm from Slovenia Tea KOLAR-JURKOVSEK and Bogdan JURKOVSEK Key words: Valvasoria carlliolica n.gen. n. sp., Trias­ sic, Fossil worm , Nematoda, Sipuncu lida, Slovenia. Abstract Carnian limestones exposed from Mojslrana to Trig lav (Ihe high­ est Slovcni an mountain). arc very important biostraligraphicaJly. and cspccin lly for the palaeogeog raphic interpretation of Ihe Upper Trias­ sic. Outcrops can be traced in the VraIn Valley ex tendi ng in II narrow be ll severa! kilometres in a no rt h-eas tward - eastward direc ti on. A very quiet deposil ional environment, with reducing conditions at the sea noor, pcrmiucd the preservation of soft-bodied animal s. \lall'tlso­ ria C{lrn;olica is a new genus and specics. II has a cy lindri cal body with an cxpanded antcriormoSI ponion. The systematic position of V(lII'(lsor;a is unknown, however il might be related to Nematoda or Sipunculida. 1. INTRODUCTION The strat igraphi c profi le ex posed in the Vrala Val ­ ley (Fig. I) has been known to palacon to logisls from the beginning of the 20th century, when KITTL ( 191 2) collected numerous well preserved specimens of !-Ia/o­ bia cLfallax MOJSISOY ICS and H. telleri KITTL. On the bas is of these biva lves he determined the age as Upper Carnian or Middl e Norian. Several palaeontolog­ ica l studies of these pelag ic limcstones were performed more recen tl y (J URKOYSEK, 1984; RAMOY S, 1984, 1985; KOLAR-JURKOYSEK, 1991) and the conodont fauna (po/ygJ/alh iforlllis-A.Z.) establ ished a Carni an age (KOLAR-JURKOYSEK, 1991). During geological mapping fo r the Basic geological map of the Beljak (Y illach) and Pontcbba sheet (JURKOYSEK, 1987a, b) several excellently preserved fos sils in the Vrata Valley have been collected, amongst which thc most important is an 84 cm long skeleton or a birgeriid fi sh (JURKOYSEK, 1984; JURKOYSEK & KOLAR-JURKOYSEK , 1986). Decapod crustaceans :KOLAR-JURKOYSEK, 1991; JURKOYSEK & KO­ LAR -JURKOVSEK, 1992), c ranial bones of Sall r ­ ;ehlliys, and the inarticulate brachiopod Discillisea have liso bcen fo und together with the new fossi l worm Va/­ 'asoria eamioliea. nsti llit za gcologijo , geolchlliko in geofizi ko. Dimiceva 14, SLO- 1000 Ljubljan;t, Slovenia. 2. TAXONOMIC DESCRIPTION Phylum, Class, Order a nd Family uncerta in Genus Valvasoria n.gen. Type species: Valvasoria carnioliea n.sp. Diagnosis: Body cylindri ca l, unsegme nted, wit h ex panded an terior end, covered by a smooth and th ick cllticle. Etymo logy: This gen us is named in honour of Johann Weikhard (Janez Yajkard) Yalvasor, the Carnia­ lian polymath, for his exceptiona l contribution to the knowledge of S lovene natural and na tio nal heritage. The fossil was d iscovered 011 the 300th anniversary of his death. Range a nd occurrence: Carnian stage, Upper Tri ­ assic of Slovenia. Valvasoria carlliolica n. gen., n. sp. Diagnosis: As the generic desc ription. Etymo logy: Species nam e refers to Carniola, the Latin name of a fOffner prov ince, today part of Slove­ ilia. Holotype: BJ 1286 (PI. I, Figs. la, b). Paratypes: BJ 1287 (PI. I, Figs. 2, 3, 4), BJ 1419. Repository: Palaeonto logical collection of Bogdan lurkovsek, Dol pri Ljubljani , S loven ia, registered at the S iovenian Museum of Natural Hi story , Ljubljana; the col lec ti on has been declared a monument by the Slovcn ian Minis tl), of Culture. Type local ity: Kozja Dn ina in the Vrata Yalley, Slovenia (rig. 2). Horizon: Carnian stage, Upper T riassic. Description: Body s lender, cy lindrical; segment a­ tion not visible. An te ri or part of body narrow with width graduall y increasing posteriorly (min. w idth 1.5 mm , max. wicli h 5 mm ). An terionnost part marked by expanded structure and by a constriction behind it. Pos­ terior par! or body mi ssing, preserved part 121 mm long. T he body is covered by a thick cuticle. In section, the lamellar structure of the cut icle is clearly visible (PI. I, Fig. 4). The external surface of the c lIticle appears to be smooth. In the paratype, small pores arranged in par- 2 Geologia Croatica 50/1 A -..... A U S T '-'-J''-'-' r·/· .... · ........ . -. If " l AI?' ITALY . zero (Iakt') BI~j5ko A jeuro (lakeo) 'l?' L p s .~A ._ . ./""..( .H ~-.,..I ~ \ f>. ,-N. gohifljka saVQ ! ':> c~ 'C.. ~. l s'- J . ,.. !"" ........ voJ eRG 0 5 10 km , , , It-~ Massive limestone (Norian) ~ Bedded and platy limestone 1+;] Limestone with chert c. Fossillocalily ~ Valvasoria n.gen.n.sp. "til Ammonoids 'If Crustaceans tt ± +1 Marly limestone 0< Fish allel transverse and oblique lines arc seen under elec­ Iron microscopy. In some places, two pores unequal in size appear closely together (PI. 1, Figs. 2, 3). The inter­ nal surface of the cuticle shows a relief structure, which can be observed in traces (partly shown on PI. J, Fig. 4). In the middle part of the preserved holotype body annu­ lalion can be observed. It is represented by five circular belts approximately 0.1 mm wide. Distances between belts are 0.5 mm and 1 mill. The bells are cOlllposed of lon gitudinally arranged altcrnating fine ridges and grooves. Fig. 2 Kozja Dnina, the type-locality of Va{mmria camiolica n.gcn. n.sp. 20 m 10 o Fig. I Geographical sketch (a), and simplified strat igraphic co lumn (b) or tile Carnian beds containing Val­ I'asoria at Kozja Dnina in the Vrata Valley, Slovenia. Remarks: The relationship of Valvasoria 10 other taxa is not clear. Elongated, son-bodied animals ("worms") are classified into several phyla. Classifica­ tion of recent worms is based on their soft-part anatomy and molecular data. The correct classification of many eXlinct genera of WorlllS is difficult, even when the soft pal1s of the body are preserved_ Therefore their assigne­ ment to higher taxa is as yet ten tative and subject to future revision (HOWELL, 1966). The systematic position of Valvasoria is unknown, however it might be related to the Nematoda or Sipun­ culida. Representatives of both groups are characterized by a worm -shaped, unsegmented body. Nematoda ( roundworm s) arc free-living or parasitic , threadlike Aschelminthes known from virtually every marine, fre sh water and terrestrial habitat. Thei r pharynx is modified for sucking and in some mcmbers (order Araeolamoidea) there are lip excresecnces (HYMAN, 1951). Sipunculans are benthic and exclusively marine. The sipullculid body is divisible into a trunk and a retractiblc introvert bearing the mouth and feeding ten­ tacles (BRUSCA & BRUSCA, 1990). In both groups, the body is covered by a cuticle secreted by the epider­ mis. The nematode cuticle surface is usually smooth, whercas the sipuneu lid body often bears fine cuticular structu res. The cuticle of many modern nematodes is ringed or marked with longitudinal ridges and grooves Kolar-Jurkoviick & Jurkovsek: I'alm.l'o/'ia camiolica n.gen. n.sp .. a Triassic Wonn from Slovenia (BRUSCA & BRUSCA, 1990). The epidermis of both groups contains unicellular glands in free-living nema­ todes, as well as Illultieellular glands in sipuneulids. Acknowledgements The authors arc indebted to Dr. B. SKET (Universi­ ty of Ljubljana) for his helpful and stimulating discus­ sions and manuscript review. We also thank Drs. A. SEILACHER (University of TUbingen) and S. CON­ WA Y MORRIS (University of Cambridge) for critica l­ ly reading the manuscript. Dr. J. RODE is acknowl­ edged for his photographic expertise (SEM photographs - PI. J, P igs. 2, 3,4). This research was supported in part by a grant from the Siovenian Ministry of Science and Technology to the Institute of Geology, Geotech­ nics and Geophysics. 3. REFERENCES BRUSCA, RC. & BRUSCA, G.l. (1990): Inverte­ brates.- Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland , Massa­ chusetts, 922 p. HOWELL, B.F. (1966): Worms.- In: MOORE, R.C. (ed.): Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part W, Miscellanea. Geol. Soc. America & Univ. Kansas Press, Boulder and Lawrence, W144-WI77 . HYMAN, L.H. (1951): The Invertebrates. Acantho­ cephala, Aschelminthes and Entoprocta. The pse­ udocelomate bilnteralin. Volume III.- McGraw-l-Iill , New York, Toronto, London, 572 p. JURKOYSEK, B. (1984): Najdba 210 milijonov let stnrega ribjega okostja.- Proteus, 47/1, 23-26, Ljub­ ljana. JURKOYSEK, B. (1987a): Osnov na geoloska kart a SFRJ 1:100.000, lista Beljak in Pontebba.- Zvezni gcoloski zavod, Beograd. JURKOYSEK, B. (1987b): Osnovna gcoloska karta SFRJ 1:100000. Talmac listov Beljak in Pontebba.­ Zvezni gcoloski zavod, Beograd, 59 p. JURKOYSEK, B. & KOLAR-JURKOYSEK, T. (1986): A Late Triassic (Carnian) fish skeleton (fami ly Birgeriidae) from Slovenia, NW Yugo­ slavia.- N. Jb. Geol. Palaonl. Mh., 8, 475-478 . JURKOYSEK, B. & KOLAR-JURKOVSEK, T. (1992): FosiJi v Sloveniji.- Didakta, Radovljica, 72 p. KITTL, E. (1912): Materialen Z ll einer Monographic der Halobiidae und Monolidae del' Trias - Rezultate del' Wissenschaft.- Erforschung des Balattonsees, 1/1(1),1-229. KOLAR-JURKOYSEK, T. (1991): Mikrofavna sred­ njega in zgornjega triasa Slovcnijc in njcn biostral i­ graLski pomen.- Geologija, 33, 21-170, Ljubljana. RAMOYS, A. (1984): Nova spoznanja 0 kamijsko norijski meji v vzhodnih Julijskih Alpah.- Zborn ik radova ANUB il-l, 8, 213-218, Sarajevo. RAMOY§, A. (1985): Geoloske raziskave sevem ih Julijskih Alp in njihov biostratigrafski razvoj.- Jeklo inljudje, 5, 39 1-428, Jcsenice. Manuscript received May 24, 1996. Revised manuscript accepted April 28, 1997. 4 Geologia Croatica 50/1 PLATE I Valvasoria camiolica n.gen. n.sp. a) Hololype, BJ 1286, scale bar 10 mm. b) Enlargement of the anterior portion of the holotype, B1 1286, scale bar 5 mm. 2 External surface of the cuticle with pores arranged in rows, paralype, BJ 1287, scale bar lO ~m. 3 Detail of the external surface of the cuticle showing two pores unequal in size, paratypc, BJ 1287, scale bar I011111. 4 Cross-section of the cuticle, paratype, BJ 1287, scale bar 100 j.lm. Kobr-Jurkovsck & Ju rkovsck PLATE ! 5 6 Gcologi; t Croaticil 5011