Distribution of Diopatra cuprea across modern tidal flats; implications for Skolithos

Abstract

Skolithos is the dominant sedimentary structure in Cambrian foreshore/shoreface deposits. Diopatra cuprea, a predaceous, tube-building polychaete, has been cited as a possible modern analog for the Skolithos organism. This investigation examines the spatial distribution of D. cuprea across several tidal flats and evaluates how well D. cuprea population parameters parallel those of some Cambrian and Silurian Skolithos. A sampling network was construeted encompassing a tidal pool and channel on an ebb-tidal delta shoal (ETDS) in Chincoteague Inlet, VA, and traverses were surueyed from the high- to low-tide line in Tom's Cove of Assateague Island, VA. The number and position of worm tubes within a square meter grid were recorded for each station