Lower Ordovician graptolites from the Cabrières region, Montagne Noire, France

Five graptolite species from the Ordovician Cabrières Lagerstätte in the Pic de Vissou tectonic unit of the Montagne Noire are identified and illustrated. The assemblage belongs to the Baltograptus minutus Biozone of the lower upper Floian (Fl 3) and allows biostratigraphical correlation with the lower part of the Landeyran Formation in the Saint-Chinianais region in the more westerly sectors of the southern Montagne Noire. Complementing the study of this palaeontological assemblage, the general record of graptolites from other localities within the southern Cabrières ‘slivers’ is examined. These occurrences mostly yield older assemblages, largely referable to the Cymatograptus protobalticus Biozone of the lower Floian. The faunas imply a correlation with units predating the Landeyran Formation, particularly with the La Maurerie Formation and the lower part of the Setso Member (at the base of the Cluse de l’Orb Formation) of the regional Ordovician succession. Large multiramous dichograptid colonies at several stratigraphical levels within the Floian suggest relatively deeper environments, or settings more open to oceanic influence than those represented in the type areas of the various formations.