Eddy22 Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Hi all, Any ideas what this could be, I found a few similar ones amongst the seaweed on a rocky beach in the NE of England, and it seems like something has petrified, can provide more pics if necessary (defeated by the uploader limit). You can almost see scales on it and all the tubes look peculiar but fascinating. Size is roughly 8cm long Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 serpulid tubeworms 4 "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbler716 Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I have no idea, but this is a beautiful piece!!! Pfoolery, how old could this be??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 @Eddy22, you can add more photos in the comments. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWGeoFan Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Could be a Rugose Coral. "I am going to dig up dinosaurs whether they are liquid or solid" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Pretty sure it isn't a rugose coral. It looks to me like a bivalve shell valve, encrusted with bryozoans ( the "Scales") and serpulid worm tubes as Pfooley stated. It may not even be fossilized. Could be modern. 4 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Definitely not a rugose coral, but calcareous serpulid tubeworms. As Tim says, it could be modern. Here is a link @abyssunder posted last year explaining more about them: https://natureinfocus.blog/2010/01/13/calcareous-worm-tubes-on-flat-oyster-shells/ 5 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Completely agree this is serpulid worm tubes encrusting a bryozoan-encrusted shell. I don't see anything that resembles a rugose coral, or any coral (rugosan, tabulate, or scleractinian). There is no indication of septa, tabulae, dissepiments, or any other internal structure that would be expected of a coral. Corals also don't form such an irregular mass of meandering tubes; where the colony takes the form of a mass of disjunct individual tubes (a growth form termed "phaceloid" or "fasiculate", as opposed to a massive colony of connected coralites which is "cerioid"), the individual corallites tend to be long and relatively straight, not twisting back on themselves. Don 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I agree, serpulids and bryozoans on a shell, all modern. There's nothing fossil of that sort on the NE England coast. Great photo and a good piece for study! 5 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy22 Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Thanks ever so much for your replies guys, I'll add a few more posts with more pictures for your deliberation 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 What can I say beyond what these remarkable people have said? Nothing, except that I agree with them. It's a nice example of adaptation of tube worms to the environment using the shell material as feeding source, beeing encrusted by bryozoans for the same reason. Nice examples are shown in Jessica Winder's blog,... the reason why I use that as reference. Pretty nice examples with good details are also revealed in your excellent pictures, Eddy. The tiny holes could be made by bioeroders such as those from this link . Thank you for posting here. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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