Horn Coral in NW NJ

[CamelbackMike]

Found this horn coral on Trilobite Ridge in the NW corner of NJ this past weekend.  The 2nd picture is the back side of rock.  Is it possible to identify the species with these pictures?

 

Thanks,

Mike

 

[GeschWhat]

I don't know much about coral, but those tiny little disks in the first photo are intriguing. 

[abyssunder]

Maybe it's not a horn coral, maybe it's a tabulate coral, similar to Pleurodictyum.

[CamelbackMike]

Well that is a new one for me.  It does look so different from the horn corals I have found around Beltzville Lake in PA. 

 

[abyssunder]

I'm trying to compare it with one of the many samples available on the internet, but I'm not a specialist in corals. Wait for other opinions.

 

comparative picture from here

[CamelbackMike]

The first picture, which is the top of the fossil, is what really caught my attention.  I did not even see it when I split the rock (I have the corresponding round matching part for the 2nd picture).  I only realized the top of the rock had a small hole and when I cleaned the dirt away at home and  I saw the fossil in the hole.

 

[abyssunder]

Here is an interesting blog related to the Pleurodictyum species from the Mahantango formation, revealing how they could look and what they could make.

[Fossildude19]

That blog is by our forum member, Shamalama.  

 

The area of Trilobite Ridge is Late Silurian to Early Devonian in age.

 

There are two Lower Devonian rugose corals that it could be:  Breviphrentis roemeri, or Enterolasma strictum.

I think some prepping would need to be done to figure this out.

Regards,