Zoophycos is a somewhat cosmopolitan ichnogenus thought to be produced by moving and feeding polychaete worms.

A marginal tube surrounds the perimeter of the corkscrew, linked to the vertical shaft that connects the burrow to the surface.

[3] One hypothesis proposes that Zoophycos represents gardening behaviour, in a similar fashion to Palaeodictyon.

According to this view, there should be a fractionation of carbon isotopes between the burrow infills and the matrix – but such differentiation was not observed in Quaternary instances from deep-water cores off the Portuguese coast.

[2] It is restricted to deep waters in the Silurian, but occurs in nearshore settings from the Devonian until the end of the Permian.