Crinoid
Saccocoma tenella
Floating crinoid
Saccocoma tenella is the tiny stemless, free-swimming crinoid of the Solnhofen Plattenkalk, preserved as star-shaped impressions a few centimetres across, often with its ten branching arms spread out. It is the most common Solnhofen fossil and the cheapest, and it makes a fine display on the cream limestone. Painted 'enhancement' is common, so look at the specimen under UV.
| Phylum | Echinodermata |
|---|---|
| Class | Crinoidea |
| Order | Roveacrinida |
| Family | Saccocomidae |
| Group | Crinoid |
| Rank (PBDB) | genus· Paleobiology Database |
| Author | Agassiz 1836· Paleobiology Database |
| Classification (PBDB) | Echinodermata › Crinoidea › Roveacrinida › Saccocomidae· Paleobiology Database |
| Range (PBDB) | 252–89.8 Ma· Paleobiology Database |
| PBDB occurrences | 60· Paleobiology Database |
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Saccocoma tenella" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/saccocoma-tenella. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-saccocoma-tenella,
title = {Saccocoma tenella},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/saccocoma-tenella}},
year = {2026},
note = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.