Remarks on the genus Bathangia Keferstein, 1859, with the re-description of the holotype of the type species Bathangia sessilis (Schlotheim, 1820) (Anthozoa, Scleractinia; Middle Eocene [Lutetian])

The genus Bathangia Keferstein, 1859 is a poorly known group that consists of a single species, the type species Bathangia sessilis (Schlotheim,1820). The description by Keferstein had been the only detailed documentation of the type species, and based on Keferstein's decription, Vaughan & Wells (1943) and Wells (1956) grouped this genus with Coenocyathus Milne Edwards & Haime. Re-examination of the type material has revealed, however, that Bathangia has rhizangiid structures and, therefore, must be excluded from the synonymy of the caryophyllid genus Coenocyathus. The purpose of the present paper is to give the description of the holotype of the type species, a short review of its history, and provide the first photographic images of the type material of Bathangia sessilis (Schlotheim, 1820).