Taxonomic and biostratigraphic reassessment of Lituosepta recoarensis Cati, 1959 (Foraminifera, Lituolacea)

The large lituolid foraminifer, Lituosepta recoarensis Cati, 1959, is recorded from Lower Jurassic shallow-water carbonate deposits of the Southern Tethyan area. This species is usually not abundant and its taxonomic status, as well as its stratigraphic distribution, have not always been well defined. The analysis of Cati’s stratigraphic section (Monti Lessini area, Monte Scandolara, north-eastern Italy, Southern Alps), from which the type material originates, yielded numerous well-preserved topotypes and permitted a detailed structural and morphological assessment of Lituosepta recoarensis. Microspheric and megalospheric generations are herein described and illustrated. Two generations of megalospheric forms, A1 and A2, are distinguished on the basis of morphological features. Comparing the Lituosepta species, the genus Planisepta (type species Lituosepta compressa Hottinger) is considered invalid and the original nomenclature Lituosepta compressa is retained. In the southern Tethyan margin the stratigraphic occurrence of L. recoarensis spans the upper Sinemurian–Toarcian interval.