First report on the palaeopsychrospheric ostracod genus nemoceratina (pariceratina) Gründel and Kozur, 1972 (ostracoda, bythocytheridae) from the Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin and description of a new species

The first occurrence of the ostracod genus Nemoceratina (subgenus Pariceratina) Gründel and Kozur, 1972 (Podocopida, Bythocytheridae) in the Quaternary of the Mediterranean area is reported and the paleoenvironmental significance of this palaeopsychrospheric genus is discussed in the context of the geological history of the Tethydean area. A new species Nemoceratina (Pariceratina) barrieri n. sp., is described. The specimens have been discovered in “Cala S. Antonino” along the western slope of the Cape Milazzo Peninsula (Northeastern Sicily) in Gelasian sandy-silty sediments cropping out unconformably on a conglomerate attributed to the Tortonian (Upper Miocene) and formed as a result of the erosion of the underlying metamorphic rocks belonging to the “Calabride Complex”. The genus Nemoceratina seems to be widespread in the Middle Triassic sediments of Central Europe where it is considered a palaeopsychrospheric ostracod, i.e. a marker of palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological conditions characteristic of deeper and cold Triassic ocean waters. Monoceratina becomes scarcer in the Cenozoic, but maintains its psychrospheric characteristics. The genus is very rare in the Quaternary, and its discovery in the Pleistocene deep water sediments suggests that it has maintained its ecological requirements through time. The species Nemoceratina (Pariceratina) barrieri n. sp., is considered a residual element of the deep water Tethyan ostracod fauna