Abstract
The pinnid bivalve Atrina zelandica (Gray) is found in muddy to sandy soft-sediment habitats around the coast of New Zealand. Because of their size and their often dense and patchy distribution, Atrina can add complex physical structure to soft-sediment habitats. We compare diversity and structure of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages inside and outside of natural patches of Atrina, at two different sites in north eastern New Zealand: a muddy harbour site and a sandy open coast site. Clear differences between macrofaunal assemblages in and out of Atrina patches were noted at both sites, with stronger effects apparent at the sandy site. Further studies incorporating the effects of suspension feeders on both macrofaunal communities and local hydrodynamic conditions simultaneously are needed to help our understanding of how they modify their local habitat. Our results also illustrate the importance of identifying differences in relationships with location so that habitat variation features can be encompassed in the design of experiments investigating the influence of key species on benthic communities.
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