Caupokeras badalloi, a new ichnospecies of impedichnia from the Lower Devonian of Spain. Palaeoecological significance

A new ichnospecies, Caupokeras badalloi, is here erected from the Emsian (Lower Devonian) Aguion Formation of Asturias, NW Spain. It is a bioclaustration structure produced by the host-specific symbiotic intergrowth of two host bryozoan species, Leioclema elegans and Loxophragma cf. leptum, and a soft-bodied modular symbiont, possibly a hydroid. The distinctiveness of this bioclaustration structure creates the need for a new ichnotaxonomic name. The settlement and development of the symbiont on living colonies of bryozoan hosts formed sets of tubes with terminal openings that do not occur in non-symbiotic bryozoans, thus modifying the normal growth of its living substrate. Consequently, C. badalloi n. isp. is considered herein as belonging to the ethological category of impedichnia in the absence of a universally accepted criterion on the status of bioclaustration structures. The diagnosis of the ichnogenus Caupokeras is emended.

Automated summary

A new ichnospecies, Caupokeras badalloi, is described from the Aguion Formation of Asturias, NW Spain, featuring a unique bioclaustration structure formed by the symbiotic relationship between two bryozoan species and a soft-bodied modular symbiont. This new structure modifies the growth of its living substrate, leading to the classification of C. badalloi n. isp. as belonging to the ethological category of impedichnia due to the absence of universally accepted criteria for bioclaustration structures.