E. Mayoral et al., LOWER PLIOCENE DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA (GUADALQUIVIR BASIN, SEVILLE, SPAIN), Geobios, 31(4), 1998, pp. 505-510
A new Lower Pliocene crustacean assemblage is recorded in the southwes
tern region of the Iberian Peninsula. This assemblage is of very low d
iversity, being represented almost exclusively (96%) by specimens of G
oneplax gulderi BACHMAYER, 1953 of the family Goneplacidae. Other fami
lies represented are Callianassidae (Callianassa sp.), Laomediidae (Ja
xea cf. nocturna NARDO, 1847) and Calappidae (Calappa cf. saheliensis
VAN STRAELEN, 1936) as well as Portunidae (sp. indet.). The similarity
between the decapod faunas of the Mediterranean Late Miocene suggests
that some Late Miocene Mediterranean decapods were also present in ne
arby parts of the eastern Atlantic realm, thus surviving the Messinian
crisis. Initially, this western realm comprised a sublitoral environm
ent with relatively deep quiet waters near the shore. Subsequently, th
e conditions became more energetic in a very shallow sublittoral setti
ng.