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Name:
Isorophus cincinnatiensis
Age: Upper Ordovician
Formation: Fairmont Formation
Location: Near Cincinnati, Ohio
Size: Brachiopod is 1.4 inches tall
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Here is a pair of unusual fossil echinoderms. This is a pair of fine edrioasteroids, Isorophus cincinnatiensis, from the Ordovician of Ohio. Edrioasteroids were primitive echinoderms which consisted of a flexible theca composed of numerous polygonal plates. In this specimen, the large edrioasteroids have attached themselves to a brachiopod. This is probably not a symbiotic relationship, nor was the brachiopod under attack - the aragonitic/calcitic shell of the brachiopod merely provided a hard substrate for the edrioasteroids to rest upon. The edrioasteroid specimens have good color and contrast and are unusually positioned near the lower lip of the brachiopod. There are also small bryozoan colonies attached to the brach, which is quite unusual. This is a very interesting multiple example of this unique ''clinging'' echinoderm.
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