Ordovician in Tennessee (Help!)

Took some pictures of the holes growing in the reef tank rock but have not reviewed them. I will likely need to clean the tank wall and try again though :oops:. One thing I noticed while looking for examples is that there is a hole in one of the conch shells now that was not there even a week or two ago.
 
Thanks Hajar! Trace fossils have really captured my imagination, I will never look at tracks in the mud, sand (or rocks) the same again.

I wonder D, if over time whatever is boring into your rocks could cause problems in your tank?
 
I think they may be made by some kind of worm. I don't see this in the other tanks so it is something that came in the LR I suspect. Terri, it could cause a problem over a long period of time. For the next few years, it will only add space for more bacteria to grow and keep the aquarium healthy but I am not sure how long it will be before there is a problem. I do want to take photos to monitor because I think the population is growing. The hole I found in an empty conch shell was made in the last month.
 
It would be really interesting to see what happens. Do you have this tank in one of your threads D? Even if I can't see the borings in the rock yet I'd still like to see it. What diameter would you say the holes are, over a couple mm?:smile:
 
No pictures on TONMO (not an octo tank). I would guess most of the holes are 1-2 mm but the one I know is new in the conch shell (one I tried to rescue from the Korean Market but it did not make it home alive and may not have been alive when I got it, the one I brought home more recently is doing well) is on the a larger side (the shell is softer than the rock). I still have not dumped my camera card but think the algae on the tank wall will likely make me reshoot them and I will turn on the additional light if I do to try to get a better close up. I noticed holes in a rock I can remove as well so I will take a picture of that too.

If you have not ventured into our current day cephs area yet, let me introduce you to Cassy :biggrin2:
 
Terri;172214 said:
before reading your profile I thought you must be a marine biologist, you should have confidence oozing from your toes!:notworth:

LOL, I hope I don't insult our real biologists! I have a decent education but as an business IT person who took astronomy as a lab science because that was all that was offered at night (and taking biology was reserved for nursing students who HAD to take the courses - I DID inquire though). Not unlike you, a couple of years faithfully reading experiences and referenced material in addition to the "field" work and a lot of luck has allowed me some success in my hobby but I rank at the very bottom. 'Tis enough to coach new keepers (and help people with the computer issues of navigating the forum) but a long way from any kind of research. I did pickup my fossils for dummies book (The Universe Below) when I found a library edition at a great price but I have not cracked the binding yet. It won't help me identify the fossils you point out when I trek your way this spring but it should give me a better understanding of what I am seeing :biggrin2:

The photos i took did not come out well and I will reshoot them with a tripod and cleaner glass but you can at least see the holes in the two I am posting. Looking back at the rocks, they are likely about twice my original estimate on size.
 

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LOL, I hope I don't insult our real biologists!
I feel sure no insult will be taken! :smile:

The photos i took did not come out well
They actually aren't that bad, and they do look similiar to the ones in my fossil. I have found there is a LOT written on worms out there, extinct and extant species. Probably next to impossible to pin down what actually created the holes in my fossil (what I've read so far, like ceph soft parts, very few worms found fossilized). But since yours are living, possible.:hmm:
 
I do remember finding some odd worms on the rock when I was curing it. I tried to save two of them to figure out what they were but they died. I will have to go back to see if there are photos but they would have been taken with two cameras ago and not likely high quality. I think I will remove the conch shell and put it in a container of saltwater to see if anything is living in it.
 
Well, since I left off with a trace fossil I'll start with a couple more. The first one
?Skolithos, in what looks like a crinoid calyx. If I'm wrong hopefully Kevin will come along and correct me...:roll:
 

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This one I think may be a burrow, on the left of the picture it branches and on the right it looks like it turns upward into the rock, I really have no idea on the genera of the fossil (lost ref. material in the horrible death of my computer)
 

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Here are a few little cephalopods found in the gravel. The first one maybe a little Endoceras (2cm)?
 

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