I am working towards the submittal of one of the two major papers that will results from this Fulbright Scholarship. This paper includes description of two new species. I do not generally describe new species, and these are only my second and third new species from the Cenozoic Era (I have described a variety of new species from the Cretaceous). Basically, I describe a new species when I see something very different than anything previous known, otherwise I tend to describe new subspecies or varieties that are within the range of variation of an already described species.
The photo here is being described as a new species, Dictyocha castellum McCartney, Witkowski and Szaruga, from the early Eocene. The species is unusual in that besides the usual four spines at the corners of the basal ring, there are eight secondary spines, two on the flanks of each corner. Thus the overall appearance is similar to the old Medieval star fortresses, so that name is derived from the latin word for castle.