[1] Microfossils extend the record of Ottoia throughout the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, from the mid- to late- Cambrian.

The characteristic proboscis of priapulids is present at the anterior, attached to the trunk of the animal, proceeded by the "bursa" at the posterior.

Behind this, at the front of the trunk, lies a series of hooks and spines, arranged in a quincunx pattern like the five dots on a domino or dice.

Gut contents show that this worm was a predator, often feasting on the hyolithid Haplophrentis (a shelled animal similar to mollusks), generally swallowed them head-first.

Because of its bottom-living habit and the location of the Burgess Shale site at the foot of a high limestone reef, one may presume the relative immobility of Ottoia placed it in danger of being carried away and/or buried by any underwater mud avalanche from the cliff top.

[1] Indeed, putative candidates (initially described under the ICBN as Goniomorpha) may extend the range of Ottoia, or at least similar priapulans, into the Ordovician.

[12] One poorly preserved specimen that probably belongs to Ottoia, was discovered in the Lower Ordovician Madaoyu Formation in Hunan, China.