Abstract
Neoichnological observations help refine paleoichnological records. The present study reports extensive observations on the distribution, morphology, occurrence and association of burrows and fecal pellets of the polychaete Nereis diversicolor in the Kundalika Estuary on the west coast of India. Our holistic study of these modern-day traces suggests it to be a complex trace arising from domichnial, fodinichnial and possibly pascichnial behavior of polychaetes. The study for the first time reports extensive fecal pellet production, distribution and their preservation as thick stacks in modern estuarine environment. These observations testify the fossilization potential of pellets and provide an explanation to their origin in the geological record. Their occurrence as strings associated with mounds not only suggests pascichnial behaviour of polychaetes but also allows the assignment of post-Paleozoic Tomaculum to the activity of polychaete worms. The production of fecal pellets in such large quantities plays a major role in increasing the average grain size of the substrate of these estuarine tidal flats, thereby improving aeration within the substrate.
Highlights
Fecal pellets comprise a vital group of trace fossils, especially when found in conditions where preservation of soft bodied organisms is absent or poor
The present study describes the occurrence, distribution and architecture of a complex trace of polychaetes, giving new insights to pellet-burrow associations reported from the fossil record
Burrows filled with pellets are co-relatable with the ichnogenus Alcyonidiopsis [10] because this ichnogenus and all its species are characterized by burrows with a diameter of 5 to 7 mm and pellets with diameters of 400 to 600 μm, which are much larger than those observed in the present study
Summary
Fecal pellets comprise a vital group of trace fossils, especially when found in conditions where preservation of soft bodied organisms is absent or poor. Systematic neoichnological studies have provided modern analogues to calibrate interpretations of the fossil record. The Kundalika is a major river meeting the Arabian Sea at Revdanda in the Central West Coast of India (Fig 1A), which originates at an altitude of 820 m above sea level about 150 km southeast of Mumbai. It flows in a southeast– northwest direction, has a funnel shaped mouth and the estuary is dominated by semi-diurnal
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