A new ichnospecies of Spongeliomorpha from the Pleistocene of Sicily

A branched, scratch-ornamented burrow system is described from early Pleistocene sediments of Sicily, Italy. The trace fossil occurs in a bed of volcanic ash beneath a shallow marine silty unit and is remarkable in possessing enlarged, ovoid chambers above the multiple branching points of a maze. The structure, named Spongeliomorpha sicula, was probably produced by crustaceans. A likely interpretion is as an agrichnion, in which microbial gardening took place in the chambers.