Sabellid-dominated shallow water calcareous polychaete tubeworm association from the equatorial Tethys Ocean (Matmor Formation, Middle Jurassic, Israel)

A moderately diverse calcareous polychaete tubeworm fauna is described from the late Callovian of Israel (equatorial Tethys) containing four species of serpulids: Vermiliopsis negevensis n. sp., Nogrobs cf. quadrangularis, Propomatoceros aff. trigona, Serpula (Cementula?) sp. and a sabellid: Glomerula gordialis. V. negevensis n. sp. is the hitherto known geologically oldest representative of the genus Vermiliopsis. The shallow water tubeworm association of the equatorial Tethys was dominated by calcareous sabellids (95% of the population), which has no modern analogue. The morphotypes of the polychaete tubeworms in the late Callovian of Israel are similar to those in the Middle Jurassic of Europe.