Abstract The Silica Shale brachiopod, Paraspirifer bownockeri , of Ohio and Michigan, USA, preserves a unique window into Middle Devonian communities, as individuals hosted numerous epibionts. Herein, we use qualitative and quantitative methods to test hypotheses regarding the palaeoecology of these brachiopod hosts and their epibionts. We analysed the number and type of epibionts on the dorsal valve, ventral valve, hinge, and commissure of over 200 specimens. Using a variety of statistical techniques, we tested hypotheses regarding the relationships of these epibionts both to their host and to one another. We also produced 3D models of these specimens to explore hypotheses as to how epibiont colonization impacted host morphology. Finally, we compare our results to previous work on Silica Shale brachiopods. Our data show a correlation between shell morphology and epibiont placement that may indicate preferential placement in the water column or epibiont influence on host morphology. We found an average of 1.96 epibionts per host, with several significant correlations between co‐occurring pairs. By applying these new data to previously published life position models and epibiont placement data, we reevaluated the life position of these brachiopods and found that the most likely position for these brachiopods in life would have been with the commissure 30–45° angled above the sea floor. Our interpretation of the results differs from the original work on these brachiopods with regards to the epibiont relationships to one another, colonization patterns, and life position but supports more recent work evaluating spirifer life position and morphology.
Vantoorenburg et al. (Sun,) studied this question.