Crinoids columnals (Echinodermata) of the Ererê Formation (late Eifelian–early Givetian, Amazon Basin), State of Pará, Brazil

The faunal composition of stalked echinoderms in the Brazilian Devonian is still largely unknown despite the great abundance of crinoids in the shallow epicontinental seas of the Paleozoic. The first Devonian crinoids of Brazil, recorded in the literature in 1875 and 1903, were from the sedimentary rocks of the Ererê Formation in the Amazon Basin. Since then, the echinoderms of this formation have not been studied. This study, based on isolated pluricolumnals and columnals, described and identified Botryocrinus meloi n. sp., the first record for this genus in Brazil. In addition to this species, two other morphological patterns were identified: Tjeecrinus sp. and Morphotype AM/Er-01. The form of occurrence of the crinoid material and the paleoautoecology of B. meloi allow preliminary characterization of the habitat as a moderately deep water with weak to moderate currents and soft substrate. The similarity between B. meloi and Botryocrinus montguyonensis and of Tjeecrinus? sp. and T. crassijugatus, from the Devonian of the Armorican and Rhenan Massif, represents new evidence for the existence of contact between the faunas of the Amazon Basin with those of northern Gondwana and Armorica during the Middle Devonian.