Distribution and abundance of turritelline gastropods (Cerithioidea: Turritellidae) in Hong Kong and the English Channel: implications for a characteristic fossil assemblage

Shin, CP, Allmon, WD, Anderson, BM, Kelly, BT, Hiscock, K. and Shin, PKS 2020 Distribution and abundance of turritelline gastropods (Cerithioidea: Turritellidae) in Hong Kong and the English Channel: implications for a characteristic fossil assemblage. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 100 (8). 1261-1270. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315420001204

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Abstract/Summary

Abundant species are typically also viewed as ecologically dominant, and are frequently used to characterize the communities in which they live. Such characteristic assemblages may also be used as indicators of environmental conditions, such as relative stability. Fossil and modern turritelline gastropods are often the most abundant species in the marine assemblages and communities in which they occur, forming ‘turritelline-dominated assemblages’ (TDAs). We use data on modern Turritella bacillum from waters around Hong Kong as a case study to analyse fluctuations in abundance over 25 years. While turritellines were not always dominant in the area surveyed (~1650 km2), populations were notably persistent, and rebound after decline of abundances occurred within ~5 years at some sites. δ18O sclerochronology suggests that individuals were ~1–2 years old. It is also notable that T. bacillum was found to be abundant at salinities as low as 10–15 psu, despite the general characterization of turritellines as fully marine. Comparison with data on modern T. communis in the western English Channel corroborates this pattern, as localized sites of high abundance also appear transient. These results have implications for the interpretation of TDAs in the fossil record: they may signify the cumulative result of short-lived, spatially restricted populations, possibly resulting from essentially stochastic larval settlement. This suggests that the palaeoenvironmental setting of fossil TDAs does not always control their occurrence on short temporal scales.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Keywords:	Age and growth, distribution and abundance, life history oxygen isotope sclerochronology turritelline-dominated assemblages
Subjects:	Marine Sciences
Divisions:	Marine Biological Association of the UK > Ocean Biology
Depositing User:	Emily Smart
Date made live:	08 Oct 2021 13:55
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2024 16:50
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9407

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