Cyclopyge sibilla

Cyclopyge has the peculiarity of being a pelagic trilobite, lived in the open water column of the ocean, far from the coast and the seabed.

Trilobites were exclusively marine and due to their flattened shape, eyes in a dorsal position and dorsal exoskeleton, it is deduced that the majority were benthic animals, that is, they lived and moved on the seabed. They were probably microphages, filtering the mud from the bottom where they lived to obtain food, since they lacked digging or prehensile appendages, as well as crushing mouthparts. Some species became secondarily pelagic and developed spiny expansions to promote buoyancy. These spines were also present in protaspis larvae, which are, therefore, considered pelagic forms with great colonizing potential.

The reduction and loss of eyes experienced by various species is surely related to an adaptation to the aphotic zone or part of water that does not receive light for photosynthesis, generally beginning at about 200 meters deep, characterized by darkness, low temperatures and high pressure.