Helminthopsis Heer, 1877

Han and Pickerill (1995) and Wetzel and Bromley (1996) reviewed the ichnospecies of Helminthopsis. It is a eurybathic, facies-crossing trace fossil, common in flysch deposits and probably produced by polychaetes or priapulids (Ksiazkiewicz, 1977; Fillion and Pickerill, 1990). It occurs from the Cambrian (Crimes, 1987) to the Recent (Swinbanks and Murray, 1981; Wetzel, 1983a, b).

Diagnosis: strong, unbranched, irregularly winding or meandering, pre- or post-depositional horizontal burrows or trails that do not touch or cross. Only one order of meandering may be present. Burrow fill is unstructured and similar, coarser or finer in grain size to the surrounding material (after Heer, 1877; Książkiewicz, 1977; Fillion and Pickerill, 1984a, 1990).

Diagnosis: Simple, unbranched, elongate, cylindrical tube with curves, windings, or irregular open meanders (after Wetzel & Bromley, 1996).

Description. This is a hypichnial, semicircular, loosely meandering ridge, which is 7 mm wide. It is preserved in semirelief in a sandstone bed.