A Namurian brachiopod fauna from Meré (Province of Oviedo, Spain)

An interesting brachiopod fauna from Namurian (Marsdenian?) deposits — provisionally named the Meré beds herein — is described. The fauna contains seven new species: Drahanorhynchus cantabricus, Anopliopsis? parva, Caenanoplia martinezi, Tornquistia scutiformis, Aseptella asturica, Kitakamithyris merensis, and Plicotorynifer lamellosus; and one new genus: Aseptella with the type species A. asturica. The material of a new productellid and a new ambocoeliid was too poor to give them formal names. The special character of this fauna — only a much older fauna from the Chappel Limestone of Texas (U.S.A.) being closely comparable — indicates special environmental conditions: presumably a soft, muddy bottom. The brachiopod fauna indicates a Namurian, probably Namurian B-C, age. This is in good agreement with the late Namurian Β (Marsdenian) age found for the goniatites and with the stratigraphical position of the beds.