Finally, a Friday morning excursion!

[masonboro37]

I have not had many of my Friday morning excursions in the last few years. On December 2, 2016 I met some fossiling friends at a local quarry here in Southeastern N.C. for a day full of friendship and fossil hunting. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! Sunshine and a splendid, cool breeze enveloped us all day. The main area which I hunted consisted of Eocene, Castle Hayne Formation sediment and then I made my way to the Cretaceous, Pee Dee area.

 

Just wanted to share some of my finds from that awesome day.

 

Libby

 

This is an interesting sponge colony, species of Cliona sp. Eocene, Castle Hayne Formation. This sponge was a predator and would bore into it's prey.

[masonboro37]

Lunulites sp, Castle Hayne Formation byrozoan colony.  

Eocarpilius blowi, Eocene, Castle Hayne Formation crab carapace.

[masonboro37]

Entemnotrochus nixus, Eocene, Castle Hayne Formation.

 

[Darktooth]

Nice finds! It sounds like you had a great time with friends. Congratulations! 

[masonboro37]

5 minutes ago, darctooth said:

Nice finds! It sounds like you had a great time with friends. Congratulations! 

Thank you! It was a great day.

 

[ynot]

nice finds!

Tony

[digit]

48 minutes ago, masonboro37 said:

This is an interesting sponge colony, species of Cliona sp. Eocene, Castle Hayne Formation. This sponge was a predator and would bore into it's prey.

 

Great trip report--thanks for taking us along. Always fun to share the fossil hunting experience with like-minded friends.

 

Cliona sponges (though likely different species) exist to this day. Technically, they are not really predatory (they are filter feeders like all sponges) but they do have a habit of boring into the limestone substrate using acids to carve out interior chambers (think ant or termite colony) as the colony grows. They pump water through the entire colony with special flagellated cells called choanocytes. On many present day reefs corals are dying (disease, bleaching due to a warming climate, and overgrowth with algae and other organisms). Coral reefs in many areas (like the Florida Keys) are changing over to sponge and algal reefs. There are several species of clionid corals that are boring into the limestone framework of the reef weakening it. Bioeroded reefs like this are fragile and crumble when strong storms move through an area.

 

Your pictured clionid colony is fascinating. It's actually the internal cast of the shape of the hollow interior space of the maze-like colony. Fascinating that a simple life form like a sponge can create such a complicated structure as this with no central nervous system (really without any highly differentiated organs at all). The marine world is one of my areas of interest beyond fossils so I thought I'd take a moment to pass along some knowledge.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

P.S.: Love the little echi's and that gastropod steinkern looks coprolitic enough to have make me chuckle.

[Fossildude19]

Libby!    

Great to see you got out, and posting your finds here. 

Glad you were able to finally make a trip out to collect. 

Thanks for the great report!

Regards, 

 

 

[JohnJ]

(Sigh...)  Makes me want to be there. 

[digit]

11 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

(Sigh...)  Makes me want to be there. 

 

The mark of a good trip report.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[jcbshark]

Nice finds Libby, glad you could get some hunting in

[sixgill pete]

Libby, it was good to see you get out for a hunt. That crab looked even better in person. Can you post some more pics of the echinoid under the crab? A bottom pic and a side view?

[jpc]

Cool.  Thanks for the fun trip report.  Love that crab carapace.  

[Plantguy]

Libby, liked the report and especially that sponge!...got alot of them doing borings from around here. Thanks for showing us. Regards, Chris  

[MB]

Very nice Libby

 

 

[Ludwigia]

Nice finds, Libby. Glad to see that you enjoyed yourselves.

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 10:17 AM, ynot said:

nice finds!

Tony

Thank you Tony! 

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 10:20 AM, digit said:

 

Great trip report--thanks for taking us along. Always fun to share the fossil hunting experience with like-minded friends.

 

Cliona sponges (though likely different species) exist to this day. Technically, they are not really predatory (they are filter feeders like all sponges) but they do have a habit of boring into the limestone substrate using acids to carve out interior chambers (think ant or termite colony) as the colony grows. They pump water through the entire colony with special flagellated cells called choanocytes. On many present day reefs corals are dying (disease, bleaching due to a warming climate, and overgrowth with algae and other organisms). Coral reefs in many areas (like the Florida Keys) are changing over to sponge and algal reefs. There are several species of clionid corals that are boring into the limestone framework of the reef weakening it. Bioeroded reefs like this are fragile and crumble when strong storms move through an area.

 

Your pictured clionid colony is fascinating. It's actually the internal cast of the shape of the hollow interior space of the maze-like colony. Fascinating that a simple life form like a sponge can create such a complicated structure as this with no central nervous system (really without any highly differentiated organs at all). The marine world is one of my areas of interest beyond fossils so I thought I'd take a moment to pass along some knowledge.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

P.S.: Love the little echi's and that gastropod steinkern looks coprolitic enough to have make me chuckle.

Hi Ken, thank you for the information and I really appreciate it. I kept searching for cliona sponges (fossil record) in my books and online. You really helped me to understand the sponge and it's life cycle...amazing by the way. I thought the same about the gastropod. It looks much better all cleaned up, still coprolitic resemblance though. 

 

Libby

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 10:58 AM, Fossildude19 said:

Libby!    

Great to see you got out, and posting your finds here. 

Glad you were able to finally make a trip out to collect. 

Thanks for the great report!

Regards, 

 

 

Hi Tim, been a while! Thanks for checking out my trip and hope all is well. I brought home some buckets of matrix from the Eocene area an I am finding crinoid specimens and all sorts of little fascinating micro's.

 

Libby 

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 11:07 AM, JohnJ said:

(Sigh...)  Makes me want to be there. 

Hi John, it was a great day! Hoping to be able to go back in the Spring, maybe.

 

Libby 

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 11:31 AM, jcbshark said:

Nice finds Libby, glad you could get some hunting in

Thanks so much! You have been finding some excellent finds at your stomp'n ground!

 

Libby  

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 0:24 PM, sixgill pete said:

Libby, it was good to see you get out for a hunt. That crab looked even better in person. Can you post some more pics of the echinoid under the crab? A bottom pic and a side view?

Hello Don,

 

It was nice to see you and all our fossiling friends, fantastic day all around! I sure can post pic's of the little echi. Will do that later today when I have extra time. Your Ric tooth sure is an awesome find by the way.

 

Libby

[digit]

44 minutes ago, masonboro37 said:

Hi Ken, thank you for the information and I really appreciate it. I kept searching for cliona sponges (fossil record) in my books and online. You really helped me to understand the sponge and it's life cycle...amazing by the way. I thought the same about the gastropod. It looks much better all cleaned up, still coprolitic resemblance though.

 

Other than some microscopic calcareous or siliceous spicules for support, sponges are pretty much soft-bodied organisms so--like the Essexella jellyfish of Mazon Creek fame--it's a wonder we have these in the fossil record at all. The internal cast of the chambers in this boring (as in "drilling" not "lame") sponge are one way of having their existence preserved through the eons. Really cool fossil--that one would have been a trip maker for me (though I do like the "gastropoop" door stop as well).

 

Looks like it was a fun trip. Post some of the finds from the micro-matrix you brought home (if you can photograph them).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 0:31 PM, jpc said:

Cool.  Thanks for the fun trip report.  Love that crab carapace.  

Hi! Thanks for checking out the trip. I always enjoy finding the little carapaces. 

 

Libby

[masonboro37]

On 12/9/2016 at 9:33 PM, Plantguy said:

Libby, liked the report and especially that sponge!...got alot of them doing borings from around here. Thanks for showing us. Regards, Chris  

Hi Chris, thanks about the report and sponge, its intricate. Have a great day!

 

Libby