Surface of valves glossy, evenly and discretely 

 pitted. Midportion of valves strongly inflated with 

 bulbous and overhanging expansions along the 

 dorsum and ventrum post-medially ; bulbous por- 

 tions lie on either side of a broad, shallow post- 

 median sulcus ; outlining the anterior margin, 

 posterad, is a row of about five deep coarse depres- 

 sions, most pronounced medially and truncated 

 dorsad by a short oblique sulcus adjacent to the 

 anterior cardinal angle. Hingement and muscu- 

 lature that of the genus. 



Dimensions : Holotype : length 0.72 mm ; height 

 0.35 mm; biconvexity 0.36 mm. 



Occurrence: Peedee only, localities A, C, and 

 F. U.S.N.M. 129013, 129014, 129015. 



Remarks : The deep anterior pits characteristic 

 of the genus are not as well developed as in other 

 species of Velar vcythere. 



Velarocythere eikonata Brown, n. sp. 

 Plate 5, Figures 10-12 



The shape, overlap, and valve sculpture of this 

 species is identical with that described for V. 

 cacumenata with one exception. The surface of 

 this species is coarsely reticulate, with large, 

 broad deep pits, and not glossy and discretely 

 pitted as in V. cacumenata. 



Dimensions: Holotype: length 0.68 mm; height 

 0.33 mm ; biconvexity 0.33 mm. 



Occurrence : Peedee only, localities A, C, and F. 

 U.S.N.M. 129016, 129017, 129018. 



Remarks: The smooth shelled V. cacumenata 

 occurs higher stratigraphically in the Peedee 

 formation than V. eikonata. 



Velarocythere arachoides (Berry) 

 Plate 5, Figures 16-18 



Cythere arachoides Berry, 1925, Am. Jour. Sci., 

 5th ser., vol. 9, p. 484, fig. 5. 



Cythere rectangulajjora Berry, 1925, Am. Jour. 

 Sci., 5th ser., vol. 9, p. 483, fig. 4. 



Brachycythere arachoides (Berry), Schmidt, 

 1948, Jour. Paleontology, vol. 22, p. 415, pi. 

 62, figs. 13-16. 



Brachycythere arachoides (Berry), Swain, 



1952, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 234-B, 

 p. 81, pi. 9, fig. 22. 



Shell in side view, subpyriform; highest post- 

 median ; dorsal margin weakly arched, sinuate 

 anterad ; ventral margin straight, convex medi- 

 ally ; anterior margin evenly rounded ; posterior 

 margin sharply rounded, extended medially. 

 Valves subequal, left valve larger than right, 

 overlap greatest at cardinal angles. 



Anterior margin compressed, smooth dorsally, 

 coarsely pitted ventrally with two rows of sub- 

 parallel deep pits ; posterior margin smooth, com- 

 pressed ; centrally, valves strongly inflated, coarse- 

 ly reticulate ; strong submedian pit behind and 

 below anterior cardinal angle, bounded dorsally 

 by a short deep furrow forming a reentrant in 

 dorsal margin ; ventrally pit is bounded by sub- 

 central short ridge and subjacent furrow. 



The right valve hinge consists of a high pointed 

 tooth with postjacent socket slightly below a long 

 smooth bar, medially formed by the thickened 

 valve edge, a high posterior square-shaped blunt 

 tooth slightly below the interterminal bar. The 

 left valve hinge consists of a deep socket with 

 postjacent high pointed tooth, a long bar formed 

 by the thickened valve edge and connected to an 

 elongate square-shaped socket. Musculature, lo- 

 cated in pit situated dorso-medially below anterior 

 end of interterminal bar, consists of an L-shaped 

 scar on the anterior pit slope and three elongate 

 scars on the posterior pit slope. 



Dimensions : Fig. 16 : length 0.75 mm ; height 

 0.34 mm. 



Occurrence: Peedee only, localities A, B, C, E, 

 and F. U.S.N.M. 129019, 129020, 129021. 



Remarks: The hingement, musculature and 

 shape of the carapace exhibited by this species 

 differs in detail from that described for Brachy- 

 cythere Alexander. The valve overlap, obtuse card- 

 inal angles, deep subparallel pits behind the an- 

 terior margin and general surface sculpture place 

 these specimens in the new genus Velarocythere 

 Brown. Compare dentition of Brachycythere Alex- 

 ander (Plate 4, Fig. 10) with that of Velarocythere 

 Brown (Plate 5, Fig. 18). Note the shape and 

 position of the posterior tooth in both figures. 



22 



