Flume studies using 1:1 scale models of Series 2 and basal Series 3 Cambrian gogiid eocrinoids from Guizhou Province, China to determine feeding posture and mode of attachment

Abstract

In Series 2 and 3 Cambrian of Guizhou Province, China, most echinoderms inhabited deeper/quieter water and were attached directly to siliciclastic substrate or biodetritus by biogluing (extrusion of extensible collagen). Feeding postures of abundant long stalked gogiids (e.g., Sinoeocrinus) from these beds were interpreted to have heeled over in the current from the thin flexible distal end of the stalk, with the brachioles streaming in a loose bundle, down current from the theca. To test these and other feeding posture assumptions, 1:1 scale models (holdfast, stalk, and theca) of three genera were carved from soft rubber and brachioles were modeled from braided fishing line. By varying current velocities long stalked flume models did not significantly heel over. Brachioles, both straight and spiraled, extended vertically from the theca in an (elliptical) cone and distally curved downstream. Disrupted flow around straight brachioles (Sinoeocrinus) kept them somewhat evenly spaced. Spiraled brachioles (Guizhoueocrinus, Globoeocrinus) are initially straight and angle outwards so that each proximal end defines a sector over the theca; this spacing keeps the brachioles free from tangling distally. Biogluing the animal to the bottom or to biodetritus seems to be correctly interpreted from the morphological evidence. Superglue was used as the proxy gluing agent for the models, success was limited. The dewatered, siliciclastic, non-bioturbated, seafloor could be only partly reconstructed and the somewhat viscous glue did not deeply penetrate the illite substrate. It is probable that bioglue had low viscosity, penetrated the sediment easily, and was able to agglutinate a large three dimensional anchoring body of sediment without (as is commonly observed) disrupting bedding.