Fossil Octocorallia of the Red Bluff Formation, Lower Oligocene, Mississippi

Abstract

An assemblage of well-preserved octocoral holdfasts and sclerites has been collected from the Red Bluff Formation at the Chickasawhay River, Wayne County, Mississippi. Seven families were identified, utilizing a collection of approximately 1,000 sclerites. Families represented are Telestidae, Nephtheidae, Anthothelidae, Paramuriceidae, Plexauridae, Virgulariidae, and Gorgoniidae. These families, with exception of the Gorgoniidae, are here reported for the first time as fossils from the Gulf Coast region. The collection represents one of the most diverse fossil octocoral assemblages known from a single location.