Gshelia rouilleri Stuckenberg, 1888

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Discussion:

Curved specimen of a rugosan coral that started life attached to a crinoid stem.

Viewer Comments:

This rugosan coral displays its initial attachment, to a columnal of a crinoid stem. As the
coral grew, it continually leaned sideways, causing the coral to compensate by curving its
growth pattern to attempt growing upward and maintaining an upward orientation for the
corallite polyp. The growth curvature is unusual in being entirely within the same plane.
This suggests the coral larva settled on the stem of a living crinoid and with growth the
heavy coral pulled the crinoid down. Upon death, only one columnal of the crinoid stem
remained attached to the base of the coral.

Tom Yancey

This specimen is very interesting. The coral is typical example of the species,
however by growing attached to a crinoid it it produced a strongly curved shape.

Alexander Davydov

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Phylum Cnidaria (corals)
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