A Foraminiferal Parasite on the Sea Urchin Echinocorys : Ichnological Evidence from the Late Cretaceous (Lower Maastrichtian, Northern Germany)

Authors: Neumann, Christian¹; Wisshak, Max²

Source: Ichnos, Volume 13, Number 3, July-September 2006 , pp. 185-190(6)

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Abstract:

In contrast to most other marine invertebrates, echinoderms favor the recognition of a syn vivo infestment of parasites and commensals by the specific response of their skeletal tissues. Attachment or embedment structures, but also repair features commonly mirror the anatomical morphology of the trace maker and may therefore be of interpretive value. Among the numerous groups of invertebrates associated with sea urchins, only a few are tightly attached to the external surface of the host, leaving visible damage on the skeleton. Here, we describe etched attachment scars, a few millimeters in size, produced by a circular to subcircular organism on the oral surface of the holasteroid echinoid Echinocorys perconica (von Hagenow, 1840) from the Lower Maastrichtian chalk of northern Germany. We compare the traces with Recent attachment scars produced by benthic foraminifers such as Hyrrokkin sarcophaga and consequently suggest a parasitic foraminifer as the most probable trace maker.

Keywords: Echinoids; Echinocorys; parasites; trace fossils; foraminifera; Maastrichtian; chalk

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10420940600853954

Affiliations: 1: Museum für Naturkunde, Institute of Paleontology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany 2: Institute of Paleontology, Erlangen University, Erlangen, Germany

Publication date: 2006-07-01

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