62 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 134 
Superfamily PUNCToSPIRACEA Cooper, 1944 
Family SPIRIFERINIDAE Davidson, 1884 
Subfamily SprrIFERELLININAE Paeckelmann, 1931 
SPIRIFERELLINA PAUCIPLICATA Cooper, new species 
Plate 12F, figures 45-49 
Shell of moderately large size, length and width about equal; sides 
gently rounded, sloping slightly toward the middle; anterior margin 
broadly rounded. Hinge forming the greatest width; ears acute. 
Surface plicate, plicae strong, direct, and angular, 2 large ones on 
each flank and 2 smaller ones near the ears. Surface covered by 
concentric plaits. 
Pedicle valve unevenly subpyramidal in profile with the longer side 
gently convex and the shorter gently concave; sulcus deep and wide, 
originating at the beak and occupying about one-third the valve width 
at the anterior margin; tongue long and angular. Flanks bounding 
sulcus somewhat depressed below the strong costae bounding the sul- 
cus ; interarea long and wide, gently concave, and strongly apsacline. 
Brachial valve gently convex in lateral profile with the most notice- 
able curvature in the umbonal region. Anterior profile broadly and 
gently convex; fold narrow, subangular, and strongly elevated an- 
teriorly ; flanks depressed, gently convex and marked by 2 strong and 
2 weak costae. 
Interior unknown. 
Measurements in mm.—Holotype, length 23, brachial valve length 
17.0, midwidth 24.1, hinge width (based on half measure) 25.0, 
thickness 15.8. 
Type.—Holotype, U.S.N.M. 125464. 
Locality.— S87. 
Discussion—This species is especially distinguished by its fairly 
large size, subangular and distant costae, and the broad, strongly 
apsacline interarea. No other American species of Spiriferellina 
approaches it in this combination of characters. Spirtferellina laxa 
Girty is a strongly costate species but it is much smaller than the 
Oregon one and has a shorter and much less inclined interarea. The 
species nearest like the Oregon one is a Russian shell, Spiriferina 
pyramidata Tschernyschew. The two species share a similarity of 
ornament, each having the same type and number of costae, but the 
Russian species is a larger one, is wider, and the long interarea is 
still more steeply inclined in the apsacline position. 
