Recent brachiopods from New Zealand — background to the study cruises of 1977–79

Abstract

Information collected during study cruises to Stewart Island, Fiordland, and the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, has led, to a reappraisal of both the physical nature of living brachiopods and the habitats occupied by, them. Two widely disparate environments—steep rock walls of fiords, and floors of shallow, muddy inlets—have brachiopod species in common. Other macrobrota characteristic of these hard and soft substrates are described. Populations of species belonging to two of the genera observed and collected in these habitats form the basis for morphological, population, and behavioural studies. One conclusion from these studies—that an individual's capacity to occupy any substrate or environment is restrioted only by one variable organ, the pedlicle—is consistent with the historical record of the phylum.