This formation is characterized as an extremely fossiliferous limestone interbedded with thick claystones. The bivalves are a very diverse group of mollusks and fill many different niches. They inhabit marine, freshwater, and intertidal environments. Anoxic waters are the only marine environments which bivalves have yet to inhabit. Most bivalves are sessile benthic filter feeders and can be infaunal or epifaunal.
Infaunal bivalves are able to burrow down into the substrate to escape predation.
These bivalves have a siphon which is located on the anterior and extends up from the burrow and carries water to the mantle cavity. This allows the bivalve to continue filter feeding as it burrows. Epifaunal bivalves have developed thick hard valves which protect them from predators that attempt to crush or bore into them. Cincinnatian bivalves were primarily sessile benthic epifaunal filter feeders. The primary preservation mode of Cincinnatian bivalves fossils was as internal or external molds because most had aragonitic shells which were easily dissolved.