An almost complete specimen of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) octocoral ‘Isis’ ramosa Voigt (Gorgonacea) from the Lower Saxony Basin, northwest Germany

An almost completely preserved specimen of the octocoral ‘Isis’ ramosa (Mitteil. Geol. Staatsinst. Hamburg 27 (1958) 5) (Gorgonacea) is described. The specimen was found in Campanian strata in the Lower Saxony Basin near Hannover (NW Germany), presumably in the Pachydiscus stobaei/Galeola basiplana Zone of the regional northwest German zonation. It consists of a small, rigid, fan-shaped corallum that was formerly known only from a few poorly preserved fragments. This feature separates ‘I.’ ramosa significantly from related extant Isididae that expose a corallum subdivided into calcified internodes and horny nodes. ‘Isidid’ species from deeper shelf settings with rigid branches and a presumed articulation only between root system and fan are interpreted as ancestral to extant gorgonaceans.