A Scleractinian coral faunule from Cape Rodney

Abstract

A small fauna of thirty coral specimens from the basal Waitemata Group at Cape Rodney, New Zealand, has yielded Cyathoseris sp., Leptoseris sp., Fungophyllia sp., and 10 indeterminate corals. This assemblage is similar to that known from the seaward side of modern reefs at depths of about 10 to 300 fathoms, particularly between 20 and so fathoms, but is a truly hermatypic fauna. Because the preservation of the corals does not permit specific identification, correlation with known fossil occurrences of these genera in the East Indies is not possible. The Otaian age of the fauna, based upon the evidence of Foraminifera, is accepted.