Bioerosion on Brachiopod Shells of a Thanatocoenosis of Alboràn Sea (Spain)

Ruggiero, Emma Taddei; Buono, Giuseppe; Raia, Pasquale

doi:10.1080/10420940600853855

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Indeed, this type of patch, with a significant number of small cavities and refuges, attracts numerous vagile invertebrates, such as shrimps and squat lobsters. It is worth mentioning that vagile invertebrates (mainly gastropods, crustaceans, polychaetes, and echinoderms) are reported by numerous authors as predators of brachiopods [26,[73][74][75]. Despite this, neither events nor signs of predation were noticed on any of the identified species, some individuals of Palinurus mauritanicus (Gruvel, 1911) and other decapods (e.g., Munida spp.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Brachiopod Fauna from the Deep Mediterranean Sea: Distribution Patterns and Ecological Preferences

et al. 2022

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Compared to their fossil counterparts, living brachiopods are investigated far less often, due to their occurrence in remote environments such as dark caves or deep environments. Due to the scarcity of studies targeting in situ brachiopods’ populations, large-scale information on their distribution and ecological preferences is still lacking, especially on hardgrounds. The extensive employment of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), however, has opened up the chance to better explore this taxon’s diversity and ecology in the mesophotic and bathyal zones. The analysis of over 600 h of video footage collected from 624 sites, from 40 m to 1825 m, located along the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian coasts of Italy and the Sicily Channel, allowed for a large-scale investigation. The four identified species, Novocrania anomala, Gryphus vitreus, Megerlia truncata and Terebratulina retusa, emerged as common macrofaunal components of the explored habitats, especially between 150 m and 250 m, with high occurrences in the northern areas, especially on offshore seamounts. All species can form dense aggregations of individuals, with M. truncata showing the densest populations on steep rocky terraces (up to 773 individuals m−2). Except for G. vitreus, the only species also recorded on soft bottoms, the others were found exclusively on hardgrounds, with N. anomala showing a peculiar ability to exploit anthropogenic substrates such as terracotta amphorae. No stable species-specific associations were noted, even if numerous species were frequently observed together. Although brachiopods do not show the conspicuous tridimensionality of large filter-feeders, their substrate occupancy and their role in pelagic–benthic processes support their importance in deep-sea Mediterranean ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Brachiopod Fauna from the Deep Mediterranean Sea: Distribution Patterns and Ecological Preferences

et al. 2022

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“…Secondly, low flesh yield reduces prey value [ 60 ], and the data for brachiopods demonstrate size refuges for both individuals below a threshold size and for large individuals above a critical size [ 61 ]. Clearly, small size does not provide immunity from predation; predatory drill holes occur in a range of micromorphic brachiopods [ 32 , 62 , 63 ] and grazing species such as sea urchins consume small species, including brachiopods [ 15 , 28 ]. Other potential defensive adaptations in shallow-water brachiopods include cryptic colour patterning [ 64 ] and ornamentation, noting also that spiny terebratulides were not present, or were rare before the MMR, but much more common after [ 27 ], another factor indicating an effect of increased predation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The demise of large tropical brachiopods and the Mesozoic marine revolution

Harper,

Peck

2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Changes in predator–prey interactions are often implicated as drivers of major evolutionary change. A prominent example is the dramatic changes in shallow marine assemblages during the Mesozoic Marine Revolution (MMR) when major clades, including rhynchonelliform brachiopods, became restricted and less diverse. Currently, shallow-water temperate and polar brachiopods can be large, but in the tropics, they are small. By contrast, we demonstrate that throughout the Jurassic large brachiopods occurred in shallow sites, from polar to tropical latitudes, but are absent in later periods from tropical areas. These changes occurred in parallel in both major orders (Rhynchonellida and Terebratulida) and also independently within the two sub-ordinal lineages within the Terebratulida (terebratulinids and terebratellinids). Increases in both grazing and predation pressures associated with the MMR might account for this pattern. However, we note that many current environments support both large brachiopods and high densities of grazing species and suggest that the pattern fits more closely to the intensification of durophagous predation in shallow tropical waters.

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“…It is commonly known that brachiopods acted as hosts for many encrusters and borers (e.g. Kessling et al, 1980;Zumwalt and Delaca, 1980;Alexander and Scharpf, 1990; Barnes and Clarke, 1995;Cuffey et al, 1995;Bitner, 1996;Fagerstrom, 1996;Taddei Ruggiero et al, 2006;Rodrigues et al, 2008;Taddei Ruggiero and Raia, 2010) and this was particularly true in the Palaeozoic when brachiopods were a major component of the marine fossil record.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%