Onuphionella corusca sp. nov.: an early Cambrian-type agglutinated tube from Upper Ordovician strata of Morocco

A variety of unrelated organisms produce agglutinated tubes as dwelling structures, and the habit has persisted since the Neoproterozoic. Onuphionella, an agglutinated tube composed of mica flakes, has been found in lower Cambrian strata on several palaeocontinents. In this paper, a new species of the genus, Onuphionella corusca sp. nov., is described from the Sandbian (Upper Ordovician) First Bani Group of the Erfoud region, Morocco. The First Bani Group was formed in a storm-dominated shelf environment below fair-weather wave base. The agglutinated tubes are found in abundance on numerous bedding surfaces, possibly representing repeated colonization between storm events, and the tube maker must have been a major part of the local ecosystem. This is the first report of Onuphionella from Ordovician rocks and the first from Gondwana.