Mass occurrence of the recent brachiopod Magellania venosa (Terebratellidae) in the fjords Comau and Reñihué, northern Patagonia, Chile

Abstract

AbstractMass occurrences of the terebratellid brachiopod Magellania venosa with more than 200 individuals·m−2 are reported from the fjords Comau and Reñihué in the northernmost region of the Chilean fjordland, whereas more southern fjords do not show these high numbers of the largest living brachiopod. This is an exception to earlier observations that the abundance of M. venosa on the Chilean shelf is positively correlated with increasing latitude. As the sympatric scleractinian coral Desmophyllum dianthus also occurs in unusually high numbers in the fjords Comau and Reñihué, the hydrographical regime and its associated environmental conditions in these fjords may be responsible for these mass occurrences.