More Lebanese soft bodies

[Terri]

 

[Hajar]

Here's something I've not come across before; preserved gills in a Dorateuthis. The remaining portion of the gill is 15 mm long (here lying adjacent to the ink sac) and I count 9 gill lamellae on either side of the efferent main vessel.

The whole animal also shows amazing fins, reaching over 5 cm long.

 

[Architeuthoceras]

Very nice fossil.

 

[Hajar]

I think this might be a first from Lebanon (at least I can't find anything published), but there are strong similarities with Plesioteuthis prisca from the German Jurassic.

 

[Hajar]

"The ancient vampyromorph Plesioteuthis has a type of gill skeleton comparable with modern oegopsid and myopsid teuthids."

 

[Phil]

What a fascinating specimen that orthocone is! If those really are arms, how many do you think we are looking at? The trace of the 'arms' seems to extend back into the dark shell area, I'd estimate maybe a total of ten given the width of each structure. If so, it would seemingly place the orthocone closer to the coleoids than Nautilus.

 

[Hajar]

Hi Phil, I only have the image in the book to go by, but it could plausibly be about ten. Mehl (1984) described a Silurian Michelinoceras from Bolivia. Soft body impressions indicated the presence of ten arms and the radula was similar to those of ammonoids and coleoids, but not Nautilus.

 

[Hajar]

Here's an image of the 17 cm Dorateuthis with fins from Hjoula, showing ink sac and gill preservation (detail in #77 above).

 

[Hajar]

... a sketch of the above Dorateuthis showing position of the preserved gill.

 

[Hajar]

Here's a lovely Hjula Rachiteuthis with worm.

 

[Hajar]

and a Dorateuthis showing a fine pair of fins ..

 

[Hajar]

The arms make up half the length of this Glyphiteuthis

 

[Hajar]

I'm not sure what this short plump little beast is.

 

[DWhatley]

... a sketch of the above Dorateuthis showing position of the preserved gill.

The gills were to the back of the animal or this is where it ended up being presereved but may have been located more toward the head?

 

[Hajar]

Hi D, that's about the same position as seen in the few other specimens showing gills, e.g. a Plesioteuthis prisca illustrated by Mehl (1990).

I have the impression that the Rachiteuthis above has four fins, but need to expose it a bit further - with care!

I'm thinking that the Glyphi with the very long arms is probably G. abisaadiorum and the short fat one a G. libanotica.