Population structure of articulate brachiopod species from soft and hard substrates

Abstract

Abstract Three habitats are occupied by brachiopods in coastal waters of Stewart Island. New Zealand. Terebratella inconspicua occurs in the intertidal zone, on rock and soft unconsolidated substrates; T. sanguinea also occurs in these two habitats, but Neothyris lenticularis is found only on soft substrates. Maximum densities of T. inconspicua occur in shallow subtidal rock crevices, and of T. sanguinea on soft bottom substrates. Analyses of populations of living and (where possible) dead shells show that population structures of T. inconspicua are distinctive for each of the three habitats.