Cinclidella solitaria

Schrammen 1912

Cinclidella solitaria is a very rare sponge, described by Schrammen (1912) from Gross-Heere, North Germany, on the basis of a single specimen. The almost completely preserved specimen from the Teutonia pit shown in the picture is bedded on a large fragment of Ventriculites radiatus.

Due to the very meagre description in the literature, the identification as Cinclidella solitaria is uncertain. The species could perhaps be confused with Sporadoscinia stirps or Sporadoscinia quenstedti.

The pores have a tendency to arrange in a rectangular pattern. Where the ridges between the pores intersect, a pronounced knob is formed.

The transition from the poriferous body to the short stem and roots (lower 70 mm) is rather sharp (within 2 millimeters). The root is composed of densely aligned fibres, apparently derived from distorted skeletal lychnisks (bottom picture).