First report on the cirratulid (Annelida, Polychaeta) reefs from the Miocene Chilcatay and Pisco Formations (East Pisco Basin, Peru)

Tube-dwelling cirratulids from the Miocene Chilcatay and Pisco Formations of southern Peru are described herein for the first time. These worms constitute tube aggregates cropping out in Burdigalian and Tortonian strata of the East Pisco Basin. These specimens are here referred to the extinct species Diplochaetetes mexicanus Wilson, 1986, which was so far known from the Oligocene and lower Miocene of the Pacific Mexico. The new finds represent the first described fossil record of cirratulids from South America. Different morphologies of the tube aggregates are described, as well as their internal framework and the tube wall features. The palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical implications of these Miocene cirratulid reefs are then discussed. •Diplochaetetes mexicanus is reported from the Miocene of the East Pisco Basin, Peru.•This tube-dweller occurs in the Chilcatay Fm (Burdigalian) and Pisco Fm (Tortonian).•This is the first report on cirratulid polychaete fossils from South America.•Cirratulid reefs are likely to be widespread in the Neogene of Pacific South America.•Palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical implications of these finds are explored.