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Size‐frequency distributions of J oania cordata and A rgyrotheca cuneata ( B rachiopoda: M egathyrididae) from the C entral T yrrhenian S ea
Author(s) -
Evangelisti Francesca,
Albano Paolo G.,
Sabelli Bruno
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/maec.12096
Subject(s) - population , biology , substrate (aquarium) , botany , ecology , sociology , demography
Size‐frequency distributions can support reliable inferences concerning population dynamics of brachiopods, but only a few data are available so far. In this study, length and width frequency distributions of dead specimens of the R ecent brachiopods J oania cordata and A rgyrotheca cuneata from the M arine P rotected A rea ‘ S ecche di T or P aterno’, C entral T yrrhenian S ea, I taly (41°35′ N, 12°20′ E), are reported in order to add new data about size‐frequency distributions of brachiopods. The studied specimens came from death assemblages in the coralligenous substrate, in the P osidonia oceanica meadows, and in the sand channels. The observed patterns vary from left‐skewed ( J . cordata ) to right‐skewed ( A . cuneata ), indicating respectively a low and high mortality of smaller individuals. Significant differences between the coralligenous substrate and the P . oceanica meadow were observed for both species, revealing a variation among different habitats. All length and width distributions are clearly polymodal, but the biological meaning of the peaks is difficult to interpret, as the two species seem to have a 2‐year life span. A biometric analysis of shell sizes revealed that length and width are the most variable parameters during the growth of the animal.