Bronzviking Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I have another oddity here. Found on a Tampa Bay beach in Florida. It is about 3 inches long, brittle but light weight and hollow, with one end open and one end sealed. The side hole or spout attaches to the larger opening. I did some research and it resembles a calcareous sponge. Is it a sponge? Is it a fossil or modern? Thanks as always to a great group of people! Please see 5 pics below. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Looks sponge to Me. I will go with what everyone else said. 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronzviking Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 1 minute ago, ynot said: Looks sponge to Me. Is there anyway to tell if it is a fossil or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 One would say bryozoan. " 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...
Bronzviking Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 2 minutes ago, abyssunder said: One would say bryozoan. Oh no we're back on that bandwagon, Lol. It does look like bryozoan cover on the sealed end but I'm hoping for the tube to be sponge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 It is a bryozoan that grew around a twig-like object. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Take a look how a bryozoan may grow around a gastropod. 7 " 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...
Al Dente Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 4 minutes ago, abyssunder said: Take a look how a bryozoan may grow around a gastropod. I like mine better. Hippoporidra from the Lee Creek Mine, Pleistocene. One of these days I’ll prep out some more. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Yup, a pretty nice example! Here's another one from Taylor, 2015. 2 " 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...
Rockwood Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Yep, we've been here before. Anyone notice the worm tubes in the bryozoan patch ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 32 minutes ago, Rockwood said: Yep, we've been here before. Anyone notice the worm tubes in the bryozoan patch ? Yep, they show up quite commonly down here in places...good eyes!!... I like the various associations they cause...the little guys seem to grow on anything and everything! Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 1 hour ago, Al Dente said: I like mine better. Hippoporidra from the Lee Creek Mine, Pleistocene. One of these days I’ll prep out some more. 55 minutes ago, abyssunder said: Yup, a pretty nice example! Here's another one from Taylor, 2015. You all are making me want to go work/cut some in half that I have...stop it! LOL. Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 17 minutes ago, Plantguy said: You all are making me want to go work/cut some in half that I have...stop it! LOL. " 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...
Bronzviking Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Al Dente said: It is a bryozoan that grew around a twig-like object. An object like what, a coral tube? Can you please explain to me about bryozoans. I read about them on wiki but still don't fully understand. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronzviking Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Rockwood said: Yep, we've been here before. Anyone notice the worm tubes in the bryozoan patch ? Good eye! What do they tell us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 ( It is finger-like...but I can't see corallites. They could encrust anything they may consider a good substrate for proper living conditions.) " 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...
Rockwood Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 23 minutes ago, Bronzviking said: Good eye! What do they tell us? The bryozoans were probably little buddies to the worms providing structure and cover to the worm colony and scraps and defense for the bryozoans. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 9 hours ago, Bronzviking said: Can you please explain to me about bryozoans. I don't claim to be an expert, but these creatures fascinate me. They seem to behave almost as intermediates between a colony of individuals and a multi cellular organism. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 13 hours ago, Bronzviking said: Can you please explain to me about bryozoans. They are colonial organisms like corals but are more complex than corals. The openings that the individuals poke out of are much smaller in bryozoans ( called zooids) than in corals (called corallites). The skeleton of bryozoans can take many shapes, sometimes a single species can have different forms making identification by form difficult (corals do this too). Most are marine but there is a large freshwater type that can be found in lakes and rivers. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 6 hours ago, Rockwood said: I don't claim to be an expert, but these creatures fascinate me. They seem to behave almost as intermediates between a colony of individuals and a multi cellular organism. Often some zooids function as infrastructure for the betterment of the feeding function of the colony and don't feed for themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 18 hours ago, abyssunder said: Take a look how a bryozoan may grow around a gastropod. That is pretty cool looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 If you wish to learn a little more on bryozoan there is a chapter in this book on them. The book is Index Fossils of North America. it is old but generally very informative. https://archive.org/details/IndexFossi_00_Shim/page/n9 You can also type in “fossil Bryozoa” in the archive.org search field and come up with many publications on the topic. There are some for the Gulf of Mexico, but I’m not sure how helpful they’d be to you at this point. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronzviking Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 5 hours ago, Al Dente said: They are colonial organisms like corals but are more complex than corals. The openings that the individuals poke out of are much smaller in bryozoans ( called zooids) than in corals (called corallites). The skeleton of bryozoans can take many shapes, sometimes a single species can have different forms making identification by form difficult (corals do this too). Most are marine but there is a large freshwater type that can be found in lakes and rivers. Thanks for explaining it in English, Lol. So is my Bryozoan a fossil or modern? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 23 hours ago, Bronzviking said: Is there anyway to tell if it is a fossil or not? 1 hour ago, Bronzviking said: . So is my Bryozoan a fossil or modern? That is the question of the year. Not sure it can be determined by pictures. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 26 minutes ago, ynot said: That is the question of the year. Not sure it can be determined by pictures. Agreed. Without preserved (and observed) front walls especially, it would be tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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