Recent Brachiopoda of the Marine Protected Area "Secche di Tor Paterno", Central Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Brachiopoda of the infralittoral substrates of the Marine Protected Area “Secche di Tor Paterno”, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, are described and illustrated. Four species are reported: Novocrania anomala, Megathiris detruncata, Argyrotheca cuneata and Joania cordata. The diversity is lower than the potential infralittoral Mediterranean brachiopod fauna, but further explorations of the reefs may increase the number of species. Most specimens were found as empty shells in the sediments. A. cuneata and J. cordata are the most abundant species (96.6% of the total examined material) thus indicating that the reef is a suitable environment for both species. A few live specimens of both species were found in the coralligenous and in the Posidonia rhizomes (only J. cordata). The occurrence of brachiopods in the Posidonia rhizomes is poorly documented in literature. Moreover, in this habitat, one specimen of J. cordata was found attached to a live Muricopsis aradasii (Gastropoda, Muricidae), thus representing an interesting case of phoresis.