Original descriptions of taxa. For coccolithophores, and many calcispheres, these are pages from the Farinacci & Howe Catalog of Calcareous Nannofossils. In other cases (e.g. non-calcifying haptophytes) the data is directly compiled on this site. The "Catalogue of Calcareous Nannofossils" was originally compiled by Prof A. Farinacci 1969-1989, since 2000 it has been updated and extended by Richard Howe - see The Farinacci and Howe Catalog - an Introduction.
Taxa are sorted alphabetically for simple browsing, or you can use search boxes at the top & bottom of the page
Editors' Notes The images of the body coccoliths of the holotype unambiguosly show that this was S. nodosa, but the more exothecal coccoliths caused confusion with S. anthos and in the literature many specimens identified as S. variabilis were S. anthos.
References:
Halldal, P. & Markali, J. (1955). Electron microscope studies on coccolithophorids from the Norwegian Sea, the Gulf Stream and the Mediterranean. Avhandlinger utgitt av det Norske Videnskapsakademi i Oslo. 1955(1): 1-30. gsO
Pontosphaera variabilis: Catalog entry compiled by Anna Farinacci. Viewed: 7-2-2025