Figure 1.

Haootia quadriformis n. gen., n. sp., lower Fermeuse Formation of Back Cove, Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland. (a) Haootia quadriformis holotype specimen. Note the negative-relief central disc, interpreted as a holdfast, and the broadly bilaterally symmetrical bundles of linear ridges, extending into discrete bifurcating branches. Inferred current direction indicated by the arrow. (b) Fibres running along the right-hand margin of Haootia; each fibre is composed of finer, thinner fibres. (c) Bottom left corner of Haootia, detailing the connection between a primary bifurcating branch and the main body. Note the twisted fibres along the branch. (d) Pinching, bundling and superposition of fibres at the base of a subsidiary branch. (e) The small circular depression at the centre of the disc, showing mantling parallel fibres forming the base of a short stalk that connects the disc to the body. (f) Incomplete paratype specimen of H. quadriformis, from the Trepassey Formation of Burnt Point, Bonavista Peninsula. This specimen is preserved on its side, but clearly displays fibres extending up its stem and around the body. A small partially buried holdfast disc is arrowed. Scales bars (a,c,f), 10 mm; (b,d,e), 5 mm.