Ordovician halysitid corals from New South Wales

Three halysitid coral species are described from the Ordovician of New South Wales. Quepora calamus sp.nov. and Quepora sp. are recorded from the Cargo Creek Limestone, and Halysites praecedens sp.nov. from the Bowan Park and Canomodine Limestones. The species of Halysites is the first to be described from the Ordovician. It occurs in beds correlated with the LTpper Eastonian (= Middle-Upper Caradoc or Barneveld–Eden). A review of the early history and distribution of halysitids is presented. Sections of Ordovician and Silurian species of Halysites have shed new light on the nature of interstitial and peripheral budding in the genus.