Lower Devonian [Emisian] rugose corals from the Cantabrian Mountains, Northern Spain

Two species of Lower Devonian rugose corals are described from the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain: Cantabriastraea cantabrica gen. et sp. nov. and Tabulophyllum bonarense sp. nov. The development of rootor buffer−like attachment structures (“rhizoid processes”) in T. bonarense indicates adaption to the soft substrate and supports corallite stabilisation. Because of their strongly everted calices and a corresponding arrangement of trabeculae, the colonies of the genus Cantabriastraea are assigned tentatively to the Paradisphyllinae, constituting the first record of the subfamily in Western Europe. Some specimens give information on colony−formation of this taxon, which is induced by strong lateral budding (nonparricidal increase) of a remarkable large and long−lasting protocorallite.