Nassariid gastropods as destructive agents in preservation and fossilization of marine fishes

Abstract

Experimental investigations on the feeding activity of the gastropodNassarius moestus in intertidal environments in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) show them to be effective agents influencing processes of marine fish taphonomy. Time-lapse documentation reveals that potential whole-body preservation of fish carcasses is largely prevented through the rapid destruction of soft tissues, muscles, and ligaments, followed by disarticulation and subsequent disassociation of skeletal elements. Dissociated bones are subject to differential dispersal through hydrodynamic transport and physical wear through abrasion. Transformation of whole-body carcasses into thoroughly defleshed and disarticulated skeletons by large groups of scavenging snails was commonly observed to take place within one tidal cycle. The loss of information during taphonomic processes via destructive biological agents may ultimately bias the fossil record in a significant way and thus have implications for the paleoecological interpretation of fossil teleost assemblages.