{{Short description|Trace fossil}} {{Ichnobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range | Tertiary}}(perhaps earlier, references needed) | image = Nereites irregularis.jpg | image_caption = ''Nereites irregularis'' | taxon = Nereites | authority = McLeay, 1839 }}
'''''Nereites''''' is an ichnogenus of trace fossil. Modern tracemakers of incipient ''Nereites'' include worm-like organisms,<ref name=":0">Seilacher, A., 2007. Trace Fossil Analysis. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (226 pp.) </ref> horseshoe crabs<ref name=":1">Martin, A.J., Rindsberg, A.K., 2007. Arthropod Tracemakers of Nereites? Neoichnological observations of juvenile limulids and their paleoichnological applications. In: Miller III, W. (Ed.), Trace Fossils. Concepts, Problems, Prospects. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 478–491. </ref> and hermit crabs.<ref name=":2">Baucon A., Felletti F. 2013. Neoichnology of a barrier-island system: the Mula di Muggia (Grado lagoon, Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 375. Abstract available from http://www.tracemaker.com</ref> Historically, two models have been proposed for ''Nereites'':
# in the ‘worm model’, ''Nereites'' is a feeding burrow produced by wormlike organisms, probing and backfilling laterally<ref name=":0" /> # in the ‘arthropod model’, the characteristic lobes are pressure-release structures made by arthropod legs. According to this interpretation, ''Nereites'' is a locomotion trail<ref name=":1" />
== ''Nereites irregularis'' ==
thumb|left|''N. cumbriensis'' The ichnogenus ''Nereites'' includes '''''Nereites irregularis''''' (formerly ''Helminthoida labyrinthica'' and ''Helminthoida crassa'').<ref>{{cite book |author=Alfred Uchmann |chapter=Phanerozoic history of deep-sea trace fossils |pages=125–140 |editor=D. McIlroy |year=2004 |title=The Application of Ichnology to Palaeoenvironmental and Stratigraphic Analysis |volume=228 |series=Geological Society Special Publications |publisher=Geological Society of London |isbn=9781862391543|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6wpKir8Hb0C&pg=PA130}}</ref><ref name="cab">{{cite journal |author1=María I. López Cabrera |author2=Eduardo B. Olivero |author3=Noelia B. Carmona |author4=Juan J. Ponce |year=2008 |title= Cenozoic trace fossils of the ''Cruziana'', ''Zoophycos'' and ''Nereites'' ichnofacies from the Fuegian Andes, Argentina |journal= Ameghiniana |volume=45 |issue=2 |url= http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?pid=S0002-70142008000200011&script=sci_arttext}}</ref> They are relatively small ''Nereites'' characterized by large numbers of closely packed deeply meandering trails that tend to coil.<ref name="wetzel" /><ref name="carm">{{cite journal |author1=Noelia B. Carmona |author2=Luis A. Buatois |author3=María Gabriela Mángano |author4=Richard G. Bromley |year=2008 |title=Ichnology of the Lower Miocene Chenque Formation, Patagonia, Argentina: animal - substrate interactions and the Modern Evolutionary Fauna |journal= Ameghiniana |volume=45 |issue=1 |url= http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0002-70142008000100007 }}</ref> The trails are usually horizontal and may be regular to irregular in guidance. The central tunnel is usually thicker than the envelope zone. In dense meanders, the envelope zone may touch or overlap, but it displays low-amplitude lobes in looser meanders.<ref name="wetzel">{{cite journal |author1= Andreas Wetzel |author2=Alfred Uchman |name-list-style= amp |year=1997 |title= Ichnology of deep-sea fan overbank deposits of the Ganei Slates (Eocene, Switzerland)– a classical flysch trace fossil locality studied first by Oswald Heer |journal= Ichnos |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=139–162 |doi= 10.1080/10420949709386413}}</ref>
''Nereites irregularis'' has not been matched with known modern organisms, but they are generally believed to have been grazing trails (pascichnia) made by worms.<ref name="bianchi">{{cite web |url= http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/tf/ichno.htm |title= Of Worms, Fossilized Scribbles, and Science |author= Luigi M. Bianchi |date= 2003–2005 |publisher= York University |accessdate= October 30, 2013 |archive-date= October 29, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210738/http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/tf/ichno.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> <!--HIDING THIS UNTIL VERIFIED: ''Nereites irregularis'' is believed to be evidence of the feeding behaviour of a small worm or arthropod as it sucked nutrients from the sea bed or silt.<ref>Bromley, R.G., 1970. Borings as trace fossils and Entobia cretacea Portlock as an example, p. 49–90. In: Crimes, T.P. and Harper, J.C. (eds.), ''Trace Fossils''. Geological Journal Special Issue 3. </ref>{{Verify source|date=October 2013}}--> == ''Nereites biserialis'' == ''Nereites biserialis'' comprises winding trails constituted by a furrow flanked on both sides by lobes. Incipient biseriate ''Nereites'' are produced by hermit crabs occupying oblong shells (i.e. ''Cerithium'').<ref name=":2" />
== ''Nereites uniserialis'' == ''Nereites uniserialis'' comprises winding trails consisting of a furrow flanked by a single row of lobes. In contrast to the roughly symmetric ''Nereites biserialis'', ''Nereites uniserialis'' is produced by hermit crabs occupying trochiform shells.<ref name=":2" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q16986479}}
Category:Trace fossils