What, if anything, is a brackish-water fauna?

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Abstract
The nature of the fauna of brackish-water environments is reviewed. It is concluded that: (a) a specific brackish-water macrofauna does not exist; (b) in salinities of >c. 5-8‰ the fauna is one that also occurs in soft sediments under fully marine conditions when circumstances (possibly the absence of competing species) permit; (c) in salinities of <c. 5‰ the fauna is essentially a freshwater one; and (d) inability to cope physiologically with brackish water is not a factor of major importance in limiting species diversity in these habitats, except in the vicinity of 5‰ salinity. Caution is therefore advised in assigning brackish status to past environments on the basis of their preserved fauna.