The rhizome layer of Posidonia oceanica: an important habitat for Mediterranean brachiopods
- Author(s)
- Paolo G. Albano, Martina Stockinger
- Abstract
Mediterranean brachiopods are elusive organisms to find alive even if the bathymetric range of some species extends to very shallow waters. We here record an abundant population of Joania cordata (Risso, 1826) and Argyrotheca cuneata (Risso, 1826) in the rhizome layer of a Posidonia oceanica (Linné) Delile, 1813 meadow in Plakias, southwestern Crete from 5 to 20 m depth. Altogether, we collected 963 living individuals and 4309 shells by suction sampling; it is the largest collection of living brachiopods in Posidonia meadows ever reported. Although literature records on the occurrence of shallow-water brachiopods in this habitat are few, we claim that Posidonia rhizomes are a particularly suitable infralittoral habitat for these organisms due to their sciaphilous conditions. Suction sampling is an effective technique to collect them and can enable the discovery of many more populations in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology, StudiesServiceCenter Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy
- Journal
- Marine Biodiversity
- Volume
- 49
- Pages
- 2467-2472
- No. of pages
- 6
- ISSN
- 1867-1616
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-019-00968-6
- Publication date
- 10-2019
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106021 Marine biology, 106054 Zoology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Aquatic Science, Oceanography
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 14 - Life Below Water
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/3f86845e-683b-448a-8047-328a35918622