On the fossil alga Elianella elegans Pfender & Basse, 1948, and its so-called lookalikes, with description of Elianella brasiliana n.sp. Revision of the Juliette Pfender Collection. Part 1

According to some authors, the three fossil algal forms discussed in this paper, Cordilites cretosus (Reus, 1846), Elianella elegans Pfender & Basse, 1948, and Parachaetetes asvapatii Pia in Rao & Pia, 1936, are synonyms. However, we document that they represent three discrete species. The genus Elianella Pfender & Basse, 1948, gets unique features that make it easy to discriminate; we describe a new species from Albian limestones of Brazil. The other two genera, Cordilites Pocta, 1887, and Parachaetetes Deninger, 1906, share some common features, such as having a thallus made of a lattice-network with columns (filaments) and rows. However, on the basis of their diagnostic criteria, the species Cordilites cretosus and Parachaetetes asvapatii should not be confused.