Doryaspis swim amongst a bed of Anthozoa

8-inch-long jawless fish of the genus Doryaspis swim amongst a bed of Anthozoa of the order Actiniaria (AKA sea anemones) 410 million years ago in what is today the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Doryaspis (AKA Lyktaspis) was armored with bony spines and a long snout that had spines set along its length (somewhat like the saw of a modern sawfish). Doryaspis mouth opened above, rather than below the snout, and is believed to have dined on plankton. However the snout may have been used to stir up small crustaceans from the mud or sand. In addition to a variety of anemones are palm-like crinoids (class Crinoidea), pentagonal-shaped sea stars, nautilus-like ammonites, and squid-like nautiloid cephalopods of the genus Orthoceras

Picture No

11106144

Media ID

48431794

Size

4830px x 3623px (4.9MB)

Credit

Source

Walter Myers/Stocktrek Images

Date

Date unknown