Carpopenaeus prawn fossils
Fossil Carpopenaeus prawns on matrix, typically found in Lebanon.
£15.00 – £35.00
Carpopenaeus prawn fossils
These fossil specimens consist of a Carpopenaeus prawn fossil on a flat matrix rock - although in a fair few cases, there's more than one prawn and sometimes other fossils too.
Carpopenaeus is often described as a shrimp, including by me in 2017 when I originally wrote this listing! Oops.
Prawns and shrimp are both members of the order decapoda, which includes crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns.
The current stock I have all comes from Hjoula, Lebanon, a world renowned location for well preserved fossils - known as a "Lagerstätte" or "Lagerstätten". I hve shown these pieces under a UV light as well as in regular LED light; in some cases UV light may show up small details that are hard to see in regular light.
- #4 - 76x59.8x10.1MM - two well preserved prawns to the front, with an unknown fossil to the rear. I believe I can see some minor rib bones so this is likely to be a fish.
- #5 - 134x123x10MM - a multiblock piece with numerous well preserved prawns. Four are visible to the front, and at least one partial to the rear. Two appear to be fighting.. (or kissing!). There are also some other partial fossils which are very visible under UV light.
I have not coated these with any form of preservative but if you would like me to lacquer or coat them in Paraloid, please let me know. They are stable when displayed, but handling can cause damage - so really it depends on whether they're likely to be touched by lots of little hands.. 🙂
Additional information
| Weight | .15 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 8 × 8 × 3 cm |
| Specimen | #1 – 85.7×74.8×12.4MM, #2 – 107.5x90x14.7MM, #3 – 95.1x75x8.9MM, #4 – 76×59.8×10.1MM, #5 – 134x123x10MM |
Isabel Valero (verified owner) –
I bought the second on the pictures and I was surprised at how well preserved (the pressed shells even keep some shine) and particularly one of the shrimps, which isn’t partial or even scrambled, so that you can see clearly the head and body. Very nice plate, exactly as in the picture. Couldn’t be any happier with it.