Loricicaris spinocaudatus, holotype, ROMIP 62143
Hymenocarines were early arthropods with bivalved carapaces and mandibles, forming the bulk of the first mandibulates (represented today by myriapods, crustaceans and insects) (Aria & Caron 2017; Vannier et al. 2018). Loricicaris was a close relative of Branchiocaris, both grouped within the eponymous family Protocarididae Miller, 1889—one of the oldest formal taxa from the Burgess Shale. The relationship of Protocarididae within hymenocarines, as well as the relative placement of hymenocarines within early mandibulates is still under investigation (Aria 2022; Izquierdo-López & Caron 2022).
Loricicaris — from the Latin “lorica,” meaning armoured or armour plating, referring to the armoured (spinose) appearance of the trunk, and “caris” meaning shrimp.
spinocaudatus — from the Latin “spinosus” and “cauda,” meaning spiny and tail respectively, in reference to the spinose trunk and tailpiece of this species.
Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.
Other deposits: none.
The Collins Quarry on Mount Stephen.
Following the discovery and initial excavation of the Collins Quarry on Mount Stephen (initially referred as “locality 9”, (Collins et al. 1983)), the small protocaridid material from the Collins Quarry had been referred to as possible juvenile specimens of Branchiocaris (Briggs & Robison 1984). The material was formally described much later as a new genus and species by Legg and Caron (2014), alongside Nereocaris briggsi, and interpreted in the light of a very basal placement of bivalved arthropods in the evolution of the group—a view that has since given way to the mandibulate classification of these taxa (Aria 2022).
Loricicaris has a stout, tubular, multisegmented body largely enclosed in a broad bivalved carapace with ample, lobate corners, like other protocaridids. Eyes are very reduced or absent. The very front of the animal bears a rounded sclerite. A pair of short, stout, multisegmented antennules are the most anterior appendages. The rest of the head is poorly known, but clawed appendages are present in proximity to the antennules. The trunk limbs bear round exopods; endopods are reduced or absent. The tailpiece is a pair of caudal rami bearing setae.
24 specimens (Legg & Caron 2014).
Loricicaris was considered by its authors to be a nektobenthic deposit feeder, based on the possession of a swimmer body and three-dimensional preservation of the gut (Legg & Caron 2014). Loricicaris could be a predator or particle feeder like other hymenocarines.