The genus Peruviella (Gastropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Sergipe

Abstract

The gastropod mollusk of the genus Peruviella Olsson, 1944 belongs to the Itieriidae family and was represented by gastropods that lived in warm, shallow waters of the Tethian Province from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. The main objective of this work was to systematically review the genus Peruviella from the Early Cretaceous of Sergipe and provide paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretation from this gastropod fauna. Forty-two specimens of gastropods from the Carapeba Quarry section, Riachuelo Formation, Sergipe Basin were analyzed. This section is approximately 25 m thick, consisting of grainstone/packstone interspersed with dolomitic marls, which are part of carbonate banks of the Maruim Member. It was identified only the species Peruviella dolium (Roemer, 1849), characterized by a medium-sized, globose shell, inflated last whorl overlays previous whorls, narrow and elongated opening, inner surface with three plies or folds near the base and ornamentation consists of fine growth lines. Taphonomic analyzes indicated that the shells underwent diagenetic processes such as dissolution, recrystallization and compaction. This species occurs in Lower Albian (Early Cretaceous) of the United States and Upper Albian of Brazil (Sergipe), Mexico, Angola and Nigeria, in carbonate platform deposits and coastal environments. In Sergipe, P. dolium was part of a monospecific gastropod community, probably had an epifaunal way of life, inhabited shallow shelf marine environments and were deposit eaters or filter feeders.