Epibiota from the valves of recent Lingula (Brachiopoda)

There have been several anecdotal reports of organisms occurring on the valves of Recent Lingula, but no systematic account of this biota exists. The nature of the relationship between different epibionts and the host Lingula has not been investigated, despite evidence that epibionts may relate to their filter-feeding brachiopod hosts in ways which can be interpreted as other than simply the occupation of a hard substratum (e.g., Kesing, Hoare and Sparkes, 1980; Zumwalt and DeLaca, 1980). The present study collates records of epi-biota from three sources: 1) literature re-reports; 2) samples taken from two populations of L. anatina Lamarck, one at Shelly Beach, the other at Geoffrey Bay, near Townsville, Australia (see fig. 1 in Hammond and Kenchington, 1978); 3) collections from the United States National Museum (USNM), the Queensland Museum (QM), the Australian Museum (AM) and the Bernice P. Bishop Museum (BPBM). It also seeks to identify, where possible. the relationship between the epibionts and the host Lingula.