Dodecaceria Explained

Dodecaceria is a genus of marine polychaete worms in the family Cirratulidae. It's also one of the very few polychaete genera with a verified fossil record.

The genus contains bioluminescent species.^[1]

Fossil record

The earliest species on record, Dodecaceria cretacea (Voigt, 1971), later reclassified as the ichnofossil Caulostrepsis cretacea, was responsible for leaving boring traces on Late Cretaceous coral reefs.^[2] Authors such as Fischer et al. (1989,^[3] 2000^[4]) have proposed that Diplochaetetes fossil bioconstructions may be attributed to Dodecaceria due to synonymity. A research by Guido et al. (2024)^[5] reported very similar double-phased biomineralization processes in bioconstructions attributed to these genera.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Dodecaceria:^[6]

• Dodecaceria alphahelixae
• Dodecaceria ater
• Dodecaceria berkeleyi
• Dodecaceria capensis
• Dodecaceria carolinae
• Dodecaceria choromytilicola
• Dodecaceria concharum
• Dodecaceria coralii
• Dodecaceria cretacea †
• Dodecaceria dibranchiata
• Dodecaceria diceria
• Dodecaceria fistulicola
• Dodecaceria gallardoi
• Dodecaceria inhamata
• Dodecaceria joubini
• Dodecaceria laddi
• Dodecaceria meridiana
• Dodecaceria multifiligera
• Dodecaceria opulens
• Dodecaceria pacifica
• Dodecaceria pulchra
• Dodecaceria saeria
• Dodecaceria saxicola
• Dodecaceria sextentaculata

Notes and References

1. Herring . Peter J. . Systematic distribution of bioluminescence in living organisms . Journal of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence . 1987 . 3. 1 . 147–163. 10.1002/bio.1170010303 . 3503524 .
2. Fremdskulpturen an Steinkernen von Polychaeten-Bohrgängen aus der Maastrichter Tuffkreide. Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 1971. 144-153. 45(3-4). 10.1007/BF02989572. Voigt E.
3. Skeletal structure, growth, and paleoecology of the patch reef-buildingpolychaete worm Diplochaetetes mexicanus wilson, 1986 from the oligocene of baja california (Mexico). Geobios. 1989. 761-775. 22(6). 10.1016/S0016-6995(89)80071-3. Fischer R, Galli Oliver C, Reitner J.
4. Organomineralization of cirratulid annelid tubes-fossil and recent examples. Facies. 2000. 35–49. 42. 10.1007/BF02562565. Fischer R, Pernet B, Reitner, J.
5. Double-phased controlled and influenced biomineralization in marine invertebrates: The example of Miocene to recent reef-building polychaete cirratulids from southern Peru. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 2024. 112060. 639. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112060. Guido A, D'Amico F, DeVries TJ, Kočí T, Collareta A, Bosio G, Sanfilippo R.
6. Web site: WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Dodecaceria Örsted, 1843 . 2023-06-23 . www.marinespecies.org.