About Gogia

Gogia lies at the base of the radiation of cystoids and are among the earliest Echinoderms. Because of their early appearance, they are often called Eocrinoids or dawn crinoids, though they differ from crinoids by having pores along margins separating the plates, and have short, food-gathering brachioles along the ambulacra. Gogia were sessile suspension feeders, widely distributed in the Middle Cambrian of Western North America. They had a vase-shaped body (calyx), covered by plates that were symmetrical and have a bifurcated brachiole, a slender arm-like structure for food-gathering that closely resembled those in cystoids. The fine pair of Gogia spiralis in the picture are from the Middle Cambrian of Milliard County, Utah.