Asaphida is a large, morphologically diverse order of trilobites found in marine strata dated from the Middle Cambrian until their extinction during the Silurian.

[1] The Asaphids generally have cephalon (head) and pygidium (tail) parts similar in size, and most species have a prominent median ventral suture.

This line is found in the Middle Ordovician Asery Level deposits of the Volkhov River region near Saint Petersburg, Russia.

One thought is that this trilobite may have lain in wait for prey buried in the bottom sediment with only its periscope eyestalks protruding.

The major extinction event marking the end of the Ordovician Period reduced the diversity of all trilobite orders with most asaphid families disappearing.